Planet Earth is Blue

Edit: The pianist above is Scott Bradlee, bandleader of Postmodern Jukebox. I apologize for my earlier omission.

jazzy

Sunday Morning Poetry

I’ve watched this piece about six times in the last two days. The first time, I thought Urbana Poetry Slam Team member Jared Singer’s mike cut out but by the third or fourth verse I got what he was doing. An outstanding entry from the 2014 National Poetry Slam finals.

Happy Mardis Gras!

The roads are really bad and I don’t trust me to fry anything so no fastnacht today. Jambalaya is definitely on the menu for dinner, though. What are you doing for Mardi Gras?

 

 

 

 

My Funny Unexpected Valentine

It’s gearing up to Valentine’s Day and that means a lot of different things, including swoony poetry read by a swoony dude. For my son this year it meant finding cards featuring a monster who is both funny and creepy but saving the truly creepy ones for his closest friends because, c’mon, if you can’t creep your friends out then what good are they (the cards, not the friends)? We looked for just the right cards a few times but none of the zombies or lenticular morphing dinosaurs was quite right. Last night it was down to the wire because his class Valentine party is today and he was sweating getting Avengers cards again. He’s grown up since last year’s fascination with superheroes, after all. Saving the planet is soooo second grade.

So last night we made one last trip to the store and he found The Ones. These ones.

Forgive my fingers and the glare

Have I mentioned he’s also a fan of all things Hobbit? He’s particularly fond of this dude and all of these went to his closest classmates and his neighborhood BFF.

My son’s hero.

I noticed that other particular ones went to particular people. His grandfather, for example is getting the Gandalf one while his oldest sister is getting the Bilbo one because she loves poor little Bilbo Hobbit dude.

Poor little Bilbo Hobbit dude, Thorin, and Old Fart Gandalf

Mommy, I’m sorry to report, did NOT get a Thorin Oakenshield Valentine. Those all went to girls in his class. I’ve apparently trained my son well.

 

Laughing The Edge Off

Still stoned on the dopamitage from the lovely Valentine from the lovely dude and the lovely Audible? So am I. I think. I’m going to have to listen to the whole thing again to be REALLY certain, you know, for research purposes. Yep, research.

Anyway, over the weekend a funny thing happened on Twitter. Fellow fan @horseygal77’s husband noticed that the mahjong tile for Red Dragon

is the same character on the mighty chest of late 70’s superhero Ralph…Hinkley? Hanley? There was a name change in there somewhere. Anyway, this guy.

Not so scary, right? Just me? Okay, then. More, uh, research. Yep, research.

WTF, Kanye?

I didn’t watch the Grammys last night because I was too busy swooning with everyone else over Richard Armitage reading Shakespeare but I kept an eye on the goings on via Twitter and Facebook. When reports started to roll in that Kayne West interrupted Beck’s acceptance of his Best Album award I figured it was a joke because Beyoncé was also a nominee in that category. Uh, not so much a joke, as it turned out. Click the link to see gifs of the whole mess go down over at The Verge. Prince was out of frame there but I’d like to think that he growled at West and scared him off the stage. Billboard helpfully posted this morning about exactly who Beck is, though it wasn’t nearly as funny as Erin La Rosa’s education of Katy Perry fans who were thrilled that she was helping out new artist Missy Elliot last week over at Buzzfeed. Don’t even get me started on the Kanye/Paul McCartney nonsense. Seriously, people, internet? Google? Google is your friend.

Okay, so the obvious cut here would be “Loser,” right? That would be snarky, though, and I am still way too swoony to be anything but mellow so instead we’re listening to “Where It’s At.” Because Beck is indeed.

Why I Love The Snarker Reason #6,234

I luuuuurve The Snarker over at RAsnarktastic on Tumblr and you should, too, if for no other reason than apparently snarking is akin to clairvoyance. The Snarker? Called Hannibal for Richard Armitage months ago.

Posted with the express written permission of The Snarker

Well played, Snarker.

Some Haushalt

A couple of weeks ago two fellow bloggers nominated me for the Liebster Award, a blogging award intended to spread the blogging love and you KNOW I can’t resist that, right? So I’m thanking KellyDS from Nowhere In Particular and supersonicsonja from Off To New Zealand for thinking of me but you might not be thanking them after you get through all of the nonsense below. Seriously, gang, go make a snack, I’ll wait.

Just not this one. This one is mine.

Okay, ready? First, the rules.

1. Thank the person who nominated you and link their blog into your post.

2. Answer 11 questions which you have been asked by the nominating blogger.

3. Nominate 5 to 11 other bloggers who have fewer than 1,000 followers.

4. Add a new list of 11 questions for the nominated bloggers.

5. Paste these rules into your post.

6. Make sure your nominees know about your post and their nomination.

 

So the eleven questions, which in this case is actually twenty-two and is where it’s gonna get long. KellyDS’s are first because I’m going in alphabetical order.

1.) Is there a song that you like different versions, i.e.covers of?  which is your favorite?

There are a bunch but at the moment I’m going with Janis Joplin’s cover of Nina Simone’s “Little Girl Blue.”

2.) What is something you’re afraid of that you’d like to force yourself to face?

I am a serious arachnophobe.

3.)  What is your favorite footware of Richard’s?

The boots get me every single time.

4.) What is your favorite photography subject to view? (flowers, buildings, etc. not RA 😀 )

My kids and family.

5.) What is a habit of yours that you’d like to break?

I am a world class procrastinator.

6.) Have you ever had a dream about Richard Armitage? share a short summary

A couple of summers ago I dreamed that he and I were in the same hotel lobby and he winked at me as he walked  out the door. Beyond that he shows up as a face in the crowd every once in a while.

7.) What was the first professional play/musical that you saw and how did it affect you?

A production of Cinderella, I think. It was exciting to watch but nothing that really stayed with me.

8.) What has been your least favorite pet that you’ve owned and why?

Not my pet but one of my roommates in college kept a ferret that smelled really REALLY bad and continually got into stuff. Like the time I came back from class and found him contentedly shredding the feminine supplies I kept under my bed.

9.) If you could insert yourself into a RA film as an original character, which would it be and how would you effect   the outcome of the story?

Um…huh. How about Random Barmaid With A Crush On Thorin Oakenshield Number Five and it wouldn’t change the outcome at all.

10.) What is your favorite movie about classical mythology?

Hercules.

11.) share a random Richard Armitage related confession

I’d love to read his backstories, wouldn’t you?

 

Okay, and supersonicsonja’s staaaaarrrrt…NOW!

1. What are you listening to right now?

“Little Girl Blue” by Janis Joplin. Because I just finished answering KellyDS’s questions and had to hear it.

2. Song that gives you the creeps? Why?

“Angie Baby” by Helen Reddy. Have you listened to it? Yikes.

3. What’s your favourite country and who would feature in a soundtrack for that country?

Canada. And pretty much any Canadian but Nickelback.

4. Which song do you put on when you have to do a chore (like tidying up)?  

It varies. Something loud, though. Bon Jovi a lot recently.

5. Up-tempo or slow?

Up-tempo mostly.

6. If you could be part of a band (past and present), which one would you choose?

Um, for an actual band probably The Runaways. However, remind me to tell you about the all-girl harmonica band that my ex-roommate and Lala and I were going to put together: The Harmonic Hunts. There was bourbon involved and blessedly the idea died when the bar closed. 🙂

7. Vinyl or digital? Why?

Vinyl. Because pops and hisses were an essential part of the rhythm section.

8. Think of your favourite non-music artist/hero/person from history — which song reminds you of him or her?

Andy Warhol, who has his own theme song by David Bowie.

9. Favourite genre of music.

All of it.

10. First concert you ever went to?

I was dragged totally against my will in my early teens to see Liberace. It was so completely uncool but absolutely magical.

11. Your Top Ten playlist *ever.*

Okay, I will have you know that this JUST ABOUT KILLED ME so for the purposes of this question the questioner shall be known as supersonicSADISTsonja. Only ten? I repeat: SADIST.

“All Along the Watchtower” by Jimi Hendrix

“The Sky Is Crying” by Stevie Ray Vaughan

“Dream A Little Dream,” and though I love Mama Cass in this case I’m going with Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong

“Born to Run” by Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band

“Boom Boom” by John Lee Hooker

“Sheena Is A Punk Rocker” by The Ramones

“Stand By Me” by Ben E. King. Or John Lennon. Or Tracy Chapman. Or Seal. Or a steel drum band. Or a vibraphone player in the subway.

“Bad Reputation” by Joan Jett with the Foo Fighters

“Dare to Be Stupid” by Weird Al Yankovic

Any song Eddie Vedder sings ever, but especially “Hunger Strike” with Chris Cornell and Temple of the Dog (because holy carp, those two voices together are magic) and “Rockin’ In the Free World” with Neil Young and YES I KNOW that’s eleven but when have you ever known me to not take it up to eleven?

 

Okay, now I get to do the nominating and the asking. So I’m shouting out the following blogs:

White Rose: Sincere and Simple Thoughts 

Phylly’s Faves

Confessions of A Watcher

Do I Have A Blog?

Well, There You Go

Zee’s Muse

Just Richard Armitage

Armitageitus

GeneRAtion Armitage

Something About Love (A)

 

Okay, questions. I have given this zero thought whatsoever to these so off-the-cuff here:

1. Beatles or Rolling Stones?

2. What was your Richard Armitage gateway drug role?

3. What’s your favorite Richard Armitage role?

4. What’s your favorite picture of Richard Armitage?

5. What song would you like to hear in a fanvid? Any particular scenario?

6. Coffee or tea?

7. If you could have dinner with any two people living or dead who would they be and why those two?

8. What book are you reading right now?

9. If a train leaves the station travelling east at 50 MPH and another leaves fifteen minutes later travelling west at 55 MPH how long till I start crying because I hate word problems?

10. Fili or Kili?

11. How long did it take you to answer these questions?

So, thanks again to KellyDS and supersonicsonja, this was fun! Have a happy and safe New Year’s Eve wherever you are and whatever you’re doing, dear reader, and the last spin of 2014 is The Beatles. Because.

 

Darkness Falls Across The Laminate

Yesterday I was dancing to “Thriller” in my kitchen and I managed to — well, I didn’t really SCARE the dog, but he looked really concerned. One person, however loony, in a kitchen doesn’t qualify as a Flash Mob but these certainly do. Let’s start in Colorado. This happened last year at the Denver International Airport.

 

Do you remember the time MC Hammer challenged Michael Jackson to a dance off for possession of “the glove”? That was child’s play compared to this dance off between zombies and vamps at The Sherman Oaks Galleria in 2010.

 

And if just doing the zombie dance is difficult, imagine doing it on ice. This happened in 2011 at a Halloween weekend hockey game between the Calgary Flames and the St. Louis Blues. Guess who the host team was.

 

Nobody outdoes the King of Pop, though. Psst…kelbel…it’s coming. Can you believe this video is thirty years old? And Vincent Price? *sigh*

 

Happy Halloween everyone! Hope it’s — um — THRILLING for you, however you’re celebrating!