Six Word Serenade

 

 

 

Michael Bublé, from the cheap seats.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Throwback Thursday, July 31

 

A while back, my brother-in-law posted on Facebook about a fun way to waste a few hours (like anyone needs help finding that online, right?)  Anyway, he shared a site called The Nostalgia Machine, which really will suck you right into some kind of time warp.  It’s a nice collection of popular music, organized by year, so you can take a trip back to your childhood, or street cruising days, or just last year to the song that kept you bopping during your morning commute. 

The site isn’t anything fancy, just a bunch of links to YouTube music, but that’s okay, because it’s still fun to just hop around and relive the sounds.  Though, I think it’s just one more indication of my advancing age that I know more of the songs the further back the years go.

Which brings us to today’s selection—a song from the year of my birth.  I’ve always liked this song, though it certainly has a bit of melancholy to go along with its mildly peppy chorus.  (And, if the rumors are true, and it’s really a disguised drug anthem, well, I was far too young to recognize the possibility when I first grew to love the song, and now I just refuse to accept it.)

Enjoy this song, then pop on over to the site, and enjoy a whole bunch more.  Go on; it’s fun.

Facebook Friday, March 28

 

I’m sure I’ve mentioned, at least in passing, that The Tonight Show pretty much ceased to exist for me after Johnny Carson left the air.  I don’t know; it’s not that I particularly idolized Johnny, or anything, but I did grow up with him, and I did feel like he somehow got shafted in the whole deal, which I thought was pretty sucky.  Anyway, not only did I watch significantly less than I had before, but I never really even called the show by name anymore.  It became “The Jay Leno Show”, or, for a very brief time, “Conan”, but it never really was “The Tonight Show” for me.

Now that Leno has moved on—seemingly for good this time—I still haven’t really watched the show too much, but I have to say that I’ve really liked what I’ve seen.  Jimmy Fallon has brought with him a sense of humble jocularity that I haven’t seen in a really long time.  I think that’s a good thing, and it’s possible he’s even brought a return of The Tonight Show.

And so, I’m a little bit disappointed that I did not see either of these following clips live, but they did pop up several times on my Facebook feed over the past week, and they made me smile, so I’m going to share them with you today.  I hope you enjoy them as much as I did.

 

The Day

 

It’s been fifty-five years since the plane crash that took the lives of Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and “The Big Bopper” Richardson, which was four years before I was born.  I always think it’s just a little bit strange, the way the pop culture icon types live on forever.  I grew up listening to the music of my mom’s generation, so I knew the giants hits of these men.  Plus, back then, you could still find them on the radio.  Not that you can’t still, but these days it’s only on the oldies channels.

But then, within my lifetime, Dan McLean went and wrote himself an anthem abut these people who died years before I was even born.  I don’t know for sure, but I think it’s possible that I didn’t even really know they has passed until the song—and until I bothered to figure out what it was about, of course.

Anyway, I think it’s cool the way celebrities achieve that sort of immortality, leaving behind a piece of themselves in the thing that they loved to do, but I do still think it’s sort of strange, the way subsequent generations might know their work and still assign life to them. 

And, I wonder how it is for the family.  Do they enjoy surfing the radio dial and hearing their husband/son/father suddenly booming from the speakers?  Or is it a sudden onslaught of pain all over again?  Or, as I suspect, is it really a combination of the two, never knowing how the memory might make them feel on any given day?  I know for myself, when unexpected thoughts of those I’ve lost come crashing into my consciousness, sometimes it brings a smile, and sometimes I am brought to totally unexpected tears.  I’d assume it’s the same for the family of celebrity, only for them, that unexpected thought might be triggered at any time when faced with the work of their loved one. 

And the other thing family and friends of the rich and famous have to deal with is the very public recognition of each anniversary of their loss.  As I’ve mentioned before, those anniversaries are difficult for me, and that’s without having my own loved ones’ date of death plastered all over Google and listings of significant dates in history.  I really can’t imagine how that must feel. 

So, today, while I can recognize the talent lost so quickly all those years ago, and while I can mourn that loss of potential, it’s really the surviving family and friends who are most on my mind.  I thank them for being willing to share their loved ones with the rest of us, and I hope that they find more joy than pain in their memories.

 

  And speaking of that anthem, here’s a live version.  I’m something of a purist, so I’d generally prefer to hear the recorded version I’ve known forever, but it’s good to mix things up now and again.  And, besides, I really do love this song.

Wherever it Points

 

So, fifteen or sixteen hours ago, when I was driving to work, I had grand ideas of what to blog about today.  Alas and alack, the very long day has sucked all the creativity and chattiness right out of my head.

But, before my day began to drag into eternity, I heard a song on the radio this morning that really struck a chord with me, so I will share it with you tonight before I head off to bed (without even watching tonight’s episode of White Collar, I might add, so you know I’m dragging!). 

Anyway, the song might be a little too laid back to call an anthem, but I’d say it could at least serve as a perfectly solid theme song for being yourself.  In these days of anger and divisiveness and bullying, I like to see folks carrying the banner for the idea that it’s okay for people to just be themselves.  Now, if only we could get everyone to agree with that.

Snapshot Sunday, Musical Edition

 

Have I mentioned before how much I really like Keith Urban?  If not, I have been remiss.  I’ve been listening to his music for . . . well, I don’t know how long, really.  Five years?  Ten?  A long time. 

Well, a quick check of Wikipedia tells me that the first song I really noticed from him (“Where the Blacktop Ends”) was released in 2001, and my favorite song ever from him (“Days Go By”) in 2004, so I guess a little longer than ten years that he’s been on my radar, and just under ten that I’ve been truly smitten.  So, yeah, a long time. 

Anyway, his Light the Fuse Tour came through OKC last night, so of course I had to be there.  That seemed like a much more sure thing back when I ordered my tickets this past spring, and even last week when I was looking so forward to it.  But by Friday, it was seeming less and less thrilling as I spent the day in bed fighting what I thought was maybe a weirdo migraine.  By Saturday morning (almost noon), when I woke up with gunk running out of my ear, I decided it was likely some sort of sinus problem and I probably should take myself to the doctor.  A quick visit to the walk-in clinic and a $100+ visit to the pharmacy later, I was back home and ready for a nap.

Still, I’d been looking forward to the show for months, not to mention spending seventy-five bucks a pop for the tickets, so there was no way I was missing out.  So after my nap, I loaded up on my expensive medications, stuffed my ears full of cotton balls, and donned a big pair of dark sunglasses, and I was ready.  I can’t say that it was the most fun I’ve ever had at a concert, but I can tell you I’m glad I went.  Mr. Urban puts on a great show—full of energy and fun to go along with the fantastic music—so it’s not really the sort of thing you want to miss out on.  Oh, and at our stop, he had opening acts of Dustin Lynch and Little Big Town, plus a surprise appearance by Miranda Lambert, so lots of bang for your buck. 

Of course, all that energy equals a lot of movement, which, when combined with concert lighting, crowds, and distance, makes it a little difficult to capture photographs of the moment.  This seems especially true when the photographer has to keep closing her eyes to avoid particularly painful direct lighting or strobe effects, but I did manage to get a few that turned out pretty decent, so I’ll share those.  And, if you’re a country fan, (though Brian says, “In what universe is that country music?”) keep an eye out for Keith’s tour in your neck of the woods; it really is an awesome show.

 

What’s Playing—Little Bit of Everything

 

As I have likely mentioned before, I am a big fan of music.  Peppy tunes keep me moving on the treadmill, more thoughtful songs speak to me of life and loss, and then there is everything in between.   There really isn't a time that music doesn’t make better.

Keith Urban gets a lot of play time for me, so today, I thought I’d share his current single; I like it lots.  (Though the video is a little weird to me.)  Oh, and he’s coming in concert next month, too—I can’t wait!

Good song, right?

See You Again

 

It’s another August 16, another anniversary of my mother’s death.  Last year was something of a milestone—20 years—but the truth is, every year I feel the same ache and sadness. 

This year there’s a song that’s helping me through, though as is often the case with music, it’s sometimes hard to tell the difference between what makes you feel good and what makes you sad.  I’ve heard this song twice today, and both times I’ve cried.  And I’d be lying if I said today was the first time it’s ever brought tears to my eyes.  Mostly, though, it brings me some small feeling of peace, so that’s what I will focus on.

And it’s from a home girl, Oklahoma native Carrie Underwood.  I don’t know if that makes it better, but I know that I love this song, even if it makes me cry.  I think the truth is like that. 

 

Woodstock

 

I think it is a sure sign of old age that upon thinking of the Woodstock Music Festival your thoughts always turn to the idea of how difficult it must have been to find someplace to go to the bathroom and that there would have been no way to grab even a few good hours of sleep during those hectic three days.  Of course, this is not to trivialize what a truly cool event the festival must have been, only to say that it’s been a really long time since I thought of it as “cool”. 

The massive gathering took place over forty years ago, kicking off on this date way back in 1969 (well, it was August 15; an unexpected snooze means I’ll be posting today’s entry after midnight).  I was just about to turn six, and though I’m certain the event must have garnered all sorts of attention from the national news, I have zero recollection of hearing about it.  But as I was growing up, the name Woodstock got tossed around frequently, whispered like kids were talking about the Promised Land.  You see, back in my youth, the idea of Woodstock conjured much more pleasant thoughts than huge crowds and limited facilities.  Even though the musicians that made up the festival were not so much my cup of tea—then or now—I still could appreciate the idea of such rock royalty appearing out in the middle of a field, performing for the masses, really bringing people together.  And that part of it really is still cool, even as old as I am. 

Today’s counterpart is, I guess, the Bonnaroo festival that goes on every year out in Tennessee.   My son has always wanted to go, and I hope he’ll get the opportunity to do that sometime before all he can worry about is how he’ll be able to go to the bathroom or grab a few winks during the weekend.  But me, I’ll be staying home.

I Want My MTV

 

So, where were you thirty-two years ago?  Me, I was a new high school graduate, still living at home, working, and trying to decide what I wanted to do with my life.  I’m sure I thought I was going to save the world from some calamity or another.

But, what I wasn’t particularly taking in back on that August day in 1981, was the brand new “video” channel MTV.

Yes, this is indeed the anniversary of the launch of the Music Television channel.  Memory is strange sometimes, especially when trying to place events within the timeline of your life, but if I’d had to venture a guess, I would’ve sworn I was still in school during the heyday of the channel, but apparently I would’ve been wrong. 

But I do remember how popular it was among folks of roughly my age (and my younger sister), and I remember I just wasn’t completely sold.  Mostly, I wasn’t overly fond of a lot of the music they played, with or without videos.  But I did like the first song they played . . .

As I got a little older, I developed a bit more appreciation for the network and spent a little more time watching it.  But as time continued to roll along, the strangest thing began to happen:  MTV played less and less music.  This was especially disheartening when I really started getting nostalgic for some videos from my youth and they were no where to be found.  Every once in a while, I still get a little hankering to watch some video or another, but these days, YouTube is the much better alternative over MTV.   And the thing that’s most surprising to me is that even though I was never a huge fan of MTV, I still sort of wish it was just the simple music video channel it started out to be.  I think I’d appreciate it more now than I ever did before. 

Coincidentally, another new television channel launched today:  Pivot, which is some sort of new premium channel.  Pivot isn’t a music channel, and apparently it really was coincidence that they launche on the MTV anniversary, but that didn’t stop them from paying a bit of homage to the network with a more up-to-date version of “Video Killed the Radio Star”.  I like this version, too.

So, where were you thirty-one years ago?  Catching the video train early, or waiting for it to come back around?

What’s Playing, Part II

 

The first (and second) time I told you about a song that tickled my fancy, it was for a little ditty popular at the time.  Tonight, it will be about a song popular almost five decades ago.  Strangely, even though I most often listen to country music, tonight will not be a country offering any more than the last was.  It’s true that of the six primary pre-sets on my car stereo, three of them go to country stations.  One goes to a top 40ish type station, and two others go to oldies channels.  The top 40 channel is usually my last choice when I’m looking for a song (I’m a channel surfer from way back) as I’d usually prefer older top 40 songs to today’s chart toppers.  That’s a sure sign of aging, but I’ll just have to live with that I guess.

Anyway, sometimes (and more and more frequently it seems) I hear songs of my youth on the oldies channels, and that really does make me feel old.  But tonight the song that caught my attention was a true oldie, even for an old woman like me.  (And apologies to anyone reading who remembers this tune as part of their own childhood.)

“Bad To Me” is a catchy little song that came out in 1963 (‘64 here in the US), so I suppose, technically, it is a song of my youth, if my infancy counts.  But for me, an “oldie” is anything that was old when it first came to my attention, so this fits the bill.  Anyway, back when I was a kid and first heard this song, I always thought it was the Beatles, and then when I found out it wasn’t, I thought I was just goofy, as apparently I thought all British groups sounded alike.  It was much later that I discovered the song was written by John Lennon, and then I didn’t think I was so goofy at all for being confused.  In fact, I thought it might make me really musically savvy somehow, that I could recognize a songwriter’s style, even if I couldn’t recognize his voice.  Pretty silly the things kids think, isn’t it? 

Anyway, regardless of who sang or wrote it, I always liked it, and I still like it today.  I don’t hear it often, but I did hear it playing tonight, and I turned up the volume, rolled down the windows, and sang along.  Maybe you’ll want to do the same.

 

What’s playing in your world tonight?

Six Word Music

 

 

 

Great cause, great show, great time!

 

 

Come play along; it’s Six Word Saturday!

The Man Who Writes the Songs

 

As I’ve mentioned once or twice before, I am a life-long fan of Barry Manilow.  Some might say his music is just a bunch of silly love songs, or simplistic, or even sappy, and I don’t think I have an argument for any of that.  Except, of course, to say, “So what?”  I’ve got nothing against sappy, and I’m not looking for my musical diversions to crank up my brain power.  And as for silly love songs, heck, even Paul McCartney agrees that there’s nothing wrong with them, and who wants to argue with Sir Paul?

Anyway, it’s Barry’s birthday today, so I thought it only fitting that I should say yet again how much I enjoy his music.  The part that’s astounding to me, though, is that the man is no 70 years old.  Can you believe that?  Seventy.  Somehow, against all logic, that makes me feel like I must be a hundred.  He’s a generation ahead of me, so he’s not my contemporary, but hearing his age makes me feel very old for some reason.  It seems like I’ve been listening to him all my life.  And, really, he released his first album when I was only ten years old, so he has been around for most of my life.  Add to that the way that listening to someone’s old music makes them seem frozen in time, and you can understand my amazement at the man’s true age.

Also, it was only a year ago the last time I saw him in concert, and while he might not be zipping around the stage quite the way he was thirty or forty years ago, I promise you that he also was not looking like a near septuagenarian.  I was worn out just watching him and seat-dancing along with the music.  Which now makes me think that I’d really like to see him again.  My friend, Kim, and I have seen him many times before, and I’d hate to see the tradition end.  A quick web search reveals that he’ll be performing in my neighboring state of Texas in just a couple of weeks.  I wonder if Kim is up for an impromptu road trip?

Anyway, happy birthday, Mr. Manilow.  Thanks for the music and the memories, and here’s hoping that you’re still making both for a long time to come.

Image courtesy of Weatherman90 at en.wikipedia

Six Word King

 

 

A lazy afternoon of Elvis movies.

 

 

It’s Six Word Saturday over at Show My Face

Snapshot Sunday, April 14

 

If you saw my Six Word Saturday post yesterday, you might be wondering why there was a fake Elvis performing in my dining room.  And, if you weren’t aware, let me assure you that, yes, there really was a phony King of Rock and Roll gyrating round in my home yesterday.  And, seeing as how this is Snapshot Sunday here on the blog, I thought revisiting the performance might be worthwhile.  I especially thought it was worth a post when I realized that today is also Moment of Laughter Day.  And, if a pseudo Elvis, circa 1977, doesn’t give you at least a bit of a chuckle, I think maybe you’re just not trying hard enough.

But, first, the explanation.  It all started with the home health folks who work with my granny.  It seems they have a program for giving their patients a “gift day”, and for the year or so that they’ve been taking care of her, they’ve asked several times what sort of thing she might like.  We never really had an answer, but a while back she mentioned to them that she always like Elvis’ music, and they got the idea that they should arrange for some kind of command performance.  Scheduling was a bit of a challenge, and it finally came down to the month of April.  Well, since her birthday was on the first, this month seemed the perfect time to do a gathering in her honor, anyway.  So, that’s how it came to be that an aging gentleman with muttonchops came strolling up my driveway yesterday.

I don’t know where the hospice folks found him, but my instinct is that these Elvis gigs are not his primary means of support.  Still, he seemed like a nice enough guy, and while he wasn’t exactly a dead ringer for the King, he was enthusiastic.  Most important, though, Granny seemed to enjoy it, and that was the whole point.

So, here are a few photos of Granny being serenaded; and you’ll see that I even got the royal treatment once.

And, to really get in the spirit of Moment of Laughter Day, I’ll also include a video of Elvis’ opening number.

Well, it seems the video uploader isn’t cooperating at the moment, I’ll check back later tonight or tomorrow morning and try to get the vid posted.  In the meantime, surely the photos themselves give a little bit of an idea of what you missed out on. 

VIDEO UPDATE: YouTube is still being persnickety today, but I think this is working now.  Too late for the official date, but I think you might still get a moment of laughter from it.  I know we did.

Good night, and here’s wishing you all a very happy Monday and new week.

 

Six Word Activities

 

My day: 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Football, family, fake Elvis.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Linking up with Cate for Six Word Saturday. 

Song of Life

 

Now that our ΦΘΚ group has returned from the national convention, it’s time to start putting together whatever we might have learned and trying to put it to use for our chapter.  Of course, it’s also time to take a look back and remember the fun we had.  As the media officer for our group, I need to put together a newsletter about both this most recent gathering, as well as our regional convention a few weeks ago.  But I have another job to tackle, as well.

The other thing I am tasked with is sorting through the hundreds of photos we took while in San Jose and putting together a slide show.  It seemed like a simple enough request when our advisor tossed it out, until I sat down to plan it out and immediately realized I’d need music to go along with the pictures.  That part didn’t seem so simple at all.  Music seems like such a fundamental part of life, and it always seems to make everything better, but how do you pick a single song to represent a feeling, philosophy, or event?  Or even a life.

On the plane home, the in-flight magazine was dedicated to baseball, and it had a small blurb about major league players and their walk-up songs.  You know, those snippets of songs that play as a hitter comes up to bat, or a relieving pitcher makes his way to the mound?  Well, the article said that some of the players just choose a song that they really like, but some really try to choose something that fits their personality.  Even then, I was thinking how hard that would be.  I’ve wondered a time or two what my own personality would sound like set to music, but I’m not sure I’ve ever come up with an answer that completely satisfies.

You may be wondering what would make someone think about a personal theme song if they weren’t reading some random magazine article, though I’d propose that more people have probably wondered about that than you might think.  But, also, as I’ve probably mentioned before, I’m a huge fan of The Big Bang Theory, and during one episode, Raj had a theme song tee shirt.  It’s a real thing, and it can be personalized with whatever music you’d like.  Of course I had to wonder about what kind of song I’d want following me around on a piece of clothing. 

Anyway, while for myself I would probably choose something with a happy, hopeful message in its lyrics, deciding what might work best for the PTK slideshow was a tricky thing.  I looked through lists of friendship songs, fun songs, travel songs, popular songs, school songs.  I read song lyrics, browsed through YouTube, and just plain racked my brain.  I just couldn’t decide what I wanted to use.  You’d think I’d been asked to create the soundtrack for a major motion picture or something.

Finally, I made a decision, or at least a preliminary one.  I won’t know for sure, of course, until I get all the photos selected and everything put together.  But I think I’m going with “These Are the Days”, by 10,000 Maniacs.  It’s got mostly appropriate lyrics, a good tempo for such a project, and doesn’t sound too old for a group of college kids.  At least, that’s my hope.  If you’re not familiar with it, take a listen and let me know what you think.

Oh, and by the way, while I’m not absolutely certain, I think if I had to pick my own theme song right this minute, I might go with “Somewhere Over the Rainbow”.  What about you?  What’s your song?

My Take: Les Misérables

 

 

  Oh, Les Misérables.  Let me be upfront about my bias:  I love this musical.  The music, the story, the characters, the lessons learned—there’s not really a bad spot to be found.  A few months ago, I even confessed that in this particular instance, live theatre could even trump my beloved television as the preferred medium.

  So, what about the movie?  Well, that’s what we’re here to find out, right?  But first, a short primer for those who may not be familiar with the work.

  The story comes from Victor Hugo’s classic novel, and tells the story of Jean Valjean, a convict sent to prison for stealing bread to feed his starving family.  As the story begins, he’s being paroled, but in 19th century France, parole is a life-long cross to bear, just about guaranteed to cause recidivism.  So it is that Valjean soon feels desperate enough to steal from a priest, hoping to give himself a head start.  But he’s caught (those constables are everywhere, it seems), and almost certainly headed back to the pen.  But the priest backs up his story and has him freed, and even allows him to keep the stolen silver.  He’s bought Valjean’s soul for God.

Thus begins the story of Valjean’s redemption, as he determines to keep his promise to the old priest.  The rest of the story picks up years later, and finds Valjean a factory owner, mayor, and all around good guy.  But he’s still a wanted man, hunted by Inspector Javert, and living with that constant fear.  Through a heartbreaking series of events, one of his factory workers dies and leaves Valjean to care for her young daughter.  This is another promise he’s determined to keep.  The final stage of the story is again many years later; the daughter, Cosette, is now a young woman on the verge of love, Valjean is older and wiser, but still in hiding, and France is brimming with revolution.

That’s the story; now let’s look at the film.  First, let me be clear:  this is a musical film.  I know that seems pretty obvious, but I don’t mean the kind of musical where there’s your regular story acting going on and every fifteen minutes or so someone decides to break into song, then get back to their regular self.  No, this film is music, start to finish.  I didn’t count them, but I’m going to guess there are maybe a couple dozen spoken words in the entire thing, and it runs over two and a half hours.  If you don’t like a lot of singing, this is not the film for you.  (This would be the reason I treated myself to a special matinee showing one weekday and spared my husband, since I’ve already subjected him to the live performance three different times.)  And, speaking of the live version, I will try to keep this primarily focused on the film, but there’s simply no way for me not to compare the two mediums.

So let’s start with the cast.  Valjean is brought to life by Hugh Jackman, who has been nominated for an Academy Award, and just last night took home the Golden Globe for his role.  He’s certainly a talented man; heck, I can even remember enjoying a Tony Award broadcast because of him, and I am totally out of the loop of current Broadway hits.  That being said, I’ll just get it out of the way and say that if there’s a weak link in the cast, musically speaking, he’s it.  And, given that he’s the star, that’s kind of a downer.  On the other hand, even if there has to be a weakest link, that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s really all that weak, and I think that’s the case here.  From strictly an acting perspective, he does a great job; you’ll feel his anguish, know his heart, pray for him to prevail.  And the man can sing; I don’t mean to imply he can’t.  But there are times his voice sounds . . . tinny might be the best way to describe it.  It’s not weak, far from it.  And it’s not that the music is outside his range.  But from time to time, something doesn’t sound quite right.  It’s not enough to be unpleasant, but I found myself wishing for something a little more. 

Perhaps this is the time to comment on the filmmaking process in this particular movie.  Unlike a typical musical, where the soundtrack would be recorded (and perfected) in a studio somewhere and then the actors lip sync to the songs as they film, these songs were filmed live.  hmm.  Filmed live.  Does that make sense?  What I mean is, the actors actually sang as they were filming each of their scenes. In terms of comparing film to theatre, I think that approach gave the closest approximation of seeing a live performance that you could hope to get in a movie.  I also think it means the songs have to be pretty darn close to perfect, because with state of the art technology in both film making and showing, there isn’t a lot of forgiveness.  In that way, I think maybe the stage performers have a slight advantage, because no matter how great  a space they’re performing in, it’s not being broadcast in THX surround sound.  You can watch a little bit about the filming here. 

Anyway, I think maybe that’s where Jackman suffers, or perhaps it really is in comparison.  The one place I really found his performance lacking was in Valjean’s signature song, “Bring Him Home”.  But maybe it’s just me.  Listen to Jackman, and stage star Colm Wilkinson, and you be the judge. 

Russell Crowe is the ever vigilant Javert, and while I can’t say I’m exactly a huge fan, I think he does a good job.  I’ve heard some bad things about his singing in the movie—even one of his costars poked a little fun at the Golden Globes—but I think he holds his own.  Granted, it’s a role with only a couple of major solos, and if it were much more than that, he might’ve run into trouble, but I say he’s the right person for the job.  He’s very believably self-righteous and certain, and his moment of transformation is worth seeing.

Anne Hathaway portrays Fantine, the ill-fated factory worker who changed Valjean’s life when she entrusted Cosette to his care, and all I can say about her is that she impresses mightily.  She’s got maybe a handful of scenes and only a couple of songs, and still manages to have the most emotional moment of the film.  You wouldn’t really want to leave after “I Dreamed a Dream”, but if you did, at least you’d be leaving on a really high note.  She also picked up a Golden Globe last night, and is nominated for an Academy.  I have to say, I think her chances at the Oscar are better than Jackman’s, not necessarily because she’s that much better, but because at the Golden Globes, there were two categories for leading actors: drama and comedy/musical.  At the Academy Awards, Jackman has to go head to head with the dramatic winner, Daniel Day Lewis, as well as three other nominees.

I found the rest of the cast to be uniformly solid.  Cosette is played by Amanda Seyfried.  I’d put this in the supporting role category, even though she’s half of the major love story.  Even so, we don’t really get to know the character all that well.  We meet her as a child, when she’s rescued by Valjean, and when we see her again, she’s grown and falling in love with Marius.  There’s really not much time to find out a lot about who she is. 

Marius is part of the group of young men planning a revolution, trying to bring equality and social justice to his country.  He’s played by Brit Eddie Redmayne, who’s completely believable as the sincere activist who finds love just as he and his group finalize an uprising that’s almost destined to lead them to their deaths.  He and Cosette share the much talked about love at first sight.  My only quibble with this casting is that while he’s easily believable as a rich young boy (as one of the songs says) out of his element, he doesn’t look like someone a pretty young girl would get all ga-ga over across a crowded square.  I mean, he’s cute in a freckle-faced way, but not your typical dashing young male.  A minor detail.

The other characters we meet are Eponine (Samantha Barks), who is also in love with Marius (she’s my personal favorite, btw); Eponine’s parents, the Thénardiers (Sacha Baron Cohen and Helena Bonham Carter), who offer up the comic relief of the movie, though they also come across much ickier than they typically do on stage; the revolutionary leader Enjolras, (Evan Tveit, who’s going to be in a new USA Network program that I’m looking forward to, Graceland), who is absolutely a true believer; and, Gavroche (Daniel Huttlestone), the plucky, scene-stealing street urchin who is actually Eponine’s brother, though I don’t think we ever really know that, in either the movie or the play.  It’s not quite a literal “cast of thousands”, but IMDB lists a couple of hundred credited roles, with another fifty or so uncredited.  There are a lot of people making this music come to life. 

Before wrapping up, I’d like to offer one last comparison to film and stage, and that’s the grand scale that film allows.  The movie is as visually attractive as it can be, considering we spend a lot of time in the poor streets of France rather than on a lovely sunny beach somewhere.  It’s sweeping and dramatic, and there are a few times it brings an intensity to the story you could never hope to achieve on stage—Javert’s final song being the best example.  However, there are also times I think the film suffers from a lack of intimacy that the stage brings.  The aforementioned “Bring Him Home” is one of those moments; it’s somehow not quite as soulful, and I think maybe it’s because it feels bigger.  The worst, for me, though, is “One Day More”.  On stage, it’s the Act One finale, so it feels big and bold as the music swells and the cast comes together, but really, it’s cramped and frenetic and just a little bit desperate, as each of the characters make ready for what they know will be a huge turning point in their lives.  With everyone sharing one stage, putting the pieces together, the emotions are impossible to ignore.  But on film, with the cuts between scenes and characters, something is lost, and that makes me just a little bit sad. 

 

 

  A London stage production of “One Day More”.

 

 

 

 

All right, so let’s just cut to the chase, before this post runs as long as the movie itself.  The shortcomings of the film are more magnified by comparison to live performances than they are when standing on their own.  As mentioned, I have seen the play several times, and I’ve had the CDs of the original Broadway cast in my car for years as stand-by music, so every little difference is glaring; the same would probably be true even if I were to see another live show now.  Still, it’s an excellent movie, with a strong cast telling a timeless story of love and redemption.  I might always prefer a stage production, but I would gladly spend another three hours of my life watching this movie again, maybe even another six.  If you haven’t seen it, and if you love musicals, I’d definitely put this one on your watch list. 

Have you seen the movie?  If so, what did you think?  If not, do you plan to?

 

 

A really nice trailer for the film.

 

 

 

 

 

 

All images ©Universal Studios.

Z is for Zanzibar

 

I suppose, if I were more of the intellectual type, I’d tell you a little bit about the country-ish* place located in Africa.  (*Technically, Zanzibar is part of Tanzania, but they’ve got some partial autonomy.)  It looks like a lovely place, and it seems Freddie Mercury was born there.  Interesting. 

But, if you’ve been around here much, you probably don’t expect a geography/anthropology lesson, and today is not the day I’m going to break form.  No, instead, I’m going to tell you a little bit about a nifty little song of the same name.

“Zanzibar” is a catchy tune off of Billy Joel’s 1978 album, 52nd Street.  I don’t know if I’ve mentioned it before, but Joel most likely holds the title of My Favorite Musician Ever.  I mean, if you’re like me, at any given time there’s someone who’s tops on your playlist, and if someone says, “hey, who’s your favorite singer?”, you might rattle off the name of whoever you’re listening to non-stop at the moment.  But even so, for most of us, there’s someone who’s always on our playlist, someone that we always return to, year after year, who never grows old.  For me, that someone is Billy Joel.

Anyway, “Zanzibar” is an album cut, but I’ve never entirely understood the decision making process in these things.  There are lots of songs I listen to that I think would’ve been hit singles, but they never got released.  Or maybe it’s that I think they should’ve been hit singles, so someone should give them the chance.  I don’t know.  What I do know is that “Zanzibar” is a lively song, with some nice piano work (as you’d expect from Billy), and some less common trumpet playing, that just really works.  It sounds like it ought to be playing in some smoky jazz dive, which is just about exactly what the song is about.  It’s also got some vibraphone and marimba going on, giving it an even more distinct sound than much of Billy Joel’s trademark keyboarding, and making it sound like maybe it could be honoring the African island after all.  And, it’s got some fun lyrics, mixing sports and sex all together with some typical youthful exuberance.  What’s not to like?  But, even with all that, it never got its chance at the fame of radio play, and I think that’s a shame.  Listen here and decide for yourself. 

Over the years, I’ve heard some fans trying to figure out just where the mythical club Zanzibar was located, but none of the ideas I’ve heard floated ever seem to pan out.  There was a disco in New Jersey by that name, but it didn’t open until almost a year after the album debuted, and besides, it was a disco.  A popular opinion seems to be Zanzibar on the Waterfront in Washington, DC, but, again, not in existence at the time of the song’s writing.  And, there used to be a club in Hell’s Kitchen called Zanzibar, which would seem a likely choice, except that I don’t think it was open back in the 70s, either, and if you browse their website (still running, though it seems the place has been closed for a couple of years), it just doesn’t look right.  Pretty sure that’s not the place Billy was singing about.  So, I’m going to go out on a limb and say the place didn’t really exist, at least not by that name.  Given some of the interviews I’ve heard with Joel, and his descriptions of some of the places he played as he was coming up, I’m pretty sure the club was real, even if it was called something else. 

So, that’s a look at the musical version of Zanzibar, one of my favorite non-singles from Billy Joel.  As an aside, there’s another on the same album, “Stiletto”; that’s also pretty darn good.  Really, the whole album is pretty good.  (Not as good as The Stranger, of course, but what is?)  If you’ve never heard it, you ought to do yourself a favor and change that. 

And, in case you’re video-inclined, here’s a live version of Zanzibar.  I didn’t select this one because of its fine quality, but because the performance was more contemporary to the album than some of the others.

And, that, my friends, brings us to a close of ABC Wednesday, at least for me.  I want to thank the fine folks who keep things running over there for giving me something fun and interesting to do here for the past 26 weeks.  Everyone on the team is welcoming, and makes participants feel like they’re part of the group.  And special thanks to Roger, who’s been helming things this time around, and doing a very fine job of it.  They’re already gearing up for the next go-round to begin next week, so if you’re looking for a fun theme day for your blog, I’d encourage you to drop on by and join in. 

For myself, I’ll be taking a break for round 12, though I may drop by again for round 13, if it’s still going on.  (And I have no reason to think it won’t be, since they’ve been at it six years now!)  Next Wednesday will begin a new weekly theme here at Idle Chatter, Weight Loss Wednesday.  As you might guess, this will be a more personal undertaking, chronicling my ongoing struggle to get to a healthier, skinnier me.  I hope to see you around for that.

 

The King’s Birthday

 

Had he lived, today would have been Elvis Presley’s 77th birthday.  Am I the only one who has a hard time picturing him at 77?  Though I’ll admit to a certain fondness for the conspiracy folks who think his death was staged and that he’s living in some kind of peaceful seclusion, growing old while laughing at the world.  I can picture that easier than him still being the King of Rock and Roll as a septuagenarian.  I’ve written about Elvis before, but as this is Tube Day Tuesday, let’s visit his television history just a bit. 

Elvis had a few television specials, beginning with the one commonly known as The ‘68 Comeback Special, though its official name was simply Elvis.   I was five at the time of its release, so it seems unlikely to me that I have true memories of watching this program live, though it seems highly likely that I actually did, given that the King was always a big part of our household.  But I have seen it, and even now, it’s hard for me to think of it as a “comeback”, because he was never gone from my life.  Still, in reality, I know that his career was slowly dwindling at this time, and that this TV special played a big part in putting him back on the upswing, so I’m glad that his handlers and some television producer-types had the good sense to make it happen.

 

Image courtesy Wikipedia

Then, in 1973 came the concert special I actually do remember, Elvis: Aloha From Hawaii.   Basically, the special was designed as a publicity stunt to take advantage of the newish satellite television capability.  Broadcast live, it was marketed as a chance for the world to see a Presley concert—an opportunity many might not otherwise have.  But, while the concert took place in January, those of us here in the good ol’ USofA had to wait a few months for the television broadcast.  Apparently you didn’t counter-schedule against the Super Bowl, even back then.

The final television concert is actually composed of footage from Elvis’ final tour, Elvis in Concert.  Again, this is not one that I remember watching, though, again, it seems very likely that I did.  It was broadcast in the fall of 1977, only a couple of months after Elvis has passed away.  It seems sort of creepy and sensationalist, but I’m guessing we were tuned in.  But by all accounts, those final few concerts were nowhere close to the best Elvis had to offer, and—based on footage I’ve seen subsequently in various documentaries—not even as polished as he had been when we saw him perform, less than six months before his death.  I understand the network had already invested money in the special, and I’m guessing it brought in some decent ratings, but maybe respect for the legacy he left behind could’ve made them re-think using it.

Of course, Elvis had other television appearances in addition to his concert specials, including American Bandstand, The Steve Allen Show, and his much talked about appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show.   In the early days he was seen as incredibly raunchy and not quite appropriate for television, but there’s no denying he was always a popular guest. 

So, whether it was radio, movies, or television, Elvis Presley was destined to be a force in our culture.  It’s sad to think he’s been gone so long, and there are generations that have not been greatly exposed to his talent, and I feel lucky to have had him as part of the world I grew up in.  And, if those conspiracy theorists are correct, and he really is hiding away on an island somewhere, I wish him a very happy birthday.