Nursing Home Music

In music therapy, we discuss how in Alzheimer's patients, the best way to illicit memory recall is to have them listen to music from their teenage/young adult life. If that's the case, I want my friends and families to play me Modest Mouse. Lots of and lots of Modest Mouse.

Modest Mouse has been my favorite band since the first moment I heard them. Something about their music has always resonated with me. And while I don't listen to their music religiously like I did in high school, every time I hear it, something deep inside me is touched. I don't know if it would bring up memories, but it would certainly get a response out of me. Maybe not even one that would be seen, because it's not the kind of music that is meant to be sung along to. It's an experience to enjoy.

Songs I'm Obsessed with Right Now

Ok, short post: two songs I am loving the heck out of. Hope you like them as much as I do, although that would be pretty tough to do!

"Harder Before it Gets Easier" by David Wax Museum:

"Bottom of the River" by Delta Rae:

Celebrity Crushes

When it came to developing Celebrity crushes, I'm a late bloomer. I think it's because in high school, I was too busy crushing on people I actually knew or characters from books, TV, and movies. And yes, the characters, not the actors.

I think it's because I have such a fantastic relationship. I have no need to look other places, but it's still fun to get that fluttering nervous feeling about a person that you only get when you have a crush. I get that still every once in a while with my husband, but then I remember that I'm married to him and then my body goes, "Oh yeah, I remember that now!" and the feeling is replaced by that feeling of love instead ("I would die for you, I would kill for you. Either way, what bliss!").

So, I've had to find places to channel my lust for lusting. And since movie actors are constantly put on a pedestal and made to look perfect (and my significant other can rest assured there's no chance of me running away with them), that's an easy place to go. Right now, I can count three actors that I find simply irresistible:


David Tennant:

It's no secret I'm a Whovian. I think David Tennant playing the Doctor had a lot to do with sucking me into watching it. The over-confident, fast-talking, lanky Tennant to me was the perfect Doctor. And having him appear in every episode in those pinstripes suits... as ZZ Top wisely quipped, "Every girl crazy 'bout a sharp-dressed man!"

 Zachary Quinto:

When Adam took me to see the new 'Star Trek' movie, afterward he asked me, "What did you like about it?" All I could say was, "Spock's skinny jeans." When Adam then told me he was in 'Heroes,' I knew I had to watch the show. Zachary Quinto has this look about him, no matter what, of being stoic and a little on the intense side (in the case of 'Heroes,' a LOT on the intense side). Even when he's being funny and charming, he still looks a little crazy (watch this video, 'Dog Eat Dog').

Adrien Brody:

He's not in any TV shows I watch constantly, and he's only in one movie that I can say I really truly loved ('The Brothers Bloom,' please watch it), but Adrien's soulful sad eyes just make me melt every time I see him. He's also got great legs. Guys can have sexy legs, right?











Those are my Celebrity crushes! Now you share yours. :)

Timeless in Chicago

My poor abandoned blog! I must write!!

Lately I've been listening to musicals again. And not just any musicals... Flambe musicals! In other words, mainly Fosse. Those kinds of musicals with pizzazz, jazz, the kind that you hear the music and you just want to dance the night away.

I, of course, always look like this when dancing around my kitchen to Fosse.

A musical I adore from Fosse is 'Chicago.' I believe it to be a masterpiece, one that goes beyond just having great music and a great story and great dancing. It's commentary on the corruption of the justice system. And if we're going to have a musical about the corruption of the justice system, where else would it take place but in 'Chicago'?

Quick synopsis if you're not familiar: a woman by the name of Roxie Hart is arrested for the murder of a man with whom she was having an affair. She hires the best lawyer in town, Billy Flynn, to take her case (paid for by her dirt poor auto mechanic husband, Amos). Billie Flynn explains that it doesn't matter whether or not she's guilty, all that matters is putting on a good show for the court and press to gain sympathy for her. Surprise surprise, she's found not guilty.

The best known version of this musical is probably the film version, starring Renee Zellweger as Roxie Hart and Richard Gere as Billy Flynn. What I like about it is that it comes up with a creative way of explaining its way out of why people are bursting out into song and dance: Roxie, who is a big fan of jazz and stage, is imagining it like that. They're not really bursting into dance, she's just imagining it that way. But as much as I love the film version, it's compensating for something that you miss when you see it on stage. See, the film version takes place in the twenties (based on the dress and setting). The stage production, however, is purposefully not set in any era. All the cast members wear black and the stage is stark.

Why, you may ask? Well, outside it looking super sexy, it's part of the commentary on the corruption of Chicago law. Because no matter what, the justice system is corrupt. It always has been corrupt, and it always will be corrupt. That's what I love about the ending song, "Nowadays." Roxie Hart and Velma Kelly (the other leading lady in the show) sing about how everything is so wonderful "Nowadays," and how "in fifty years or so, it's gonna change..." But when is "Nowadays" in this world? Never is there any inkling of an era given. And that's exactly the point: in fifty years or so, nothing will change. There's nothing new under the sun... but isn't it good, isn't it grand, isn't it great, isn't it swell?