07.19.09
Cat Got My Tongue
It’s about time I publicly announce that I’ve been in a major uninspired lull with Basie’s Boots. I apologize. Hopefully I come back soon with some good stuff!
I leave you with a picture of the coolest-looking hotel, the Hotel del Coronado on Coronado island off San Diego. I was recently there to see this building, established in the late 1880s!
Hotel del Coronado
06.26.09
Belated Memorial Day
It is unlike me to not recognize Memorial Day in some public forum, but I didn’t this year because I couldn’t find how I wanted to do it. Well, I came across this video today. You can’t beat Norah Jones and PBS.
06.04.09
Bands who Twitter, bands who Tube
I find some bands’ additions to the social media world extremely amusing at times. I want to share some.
Twitter
matkearney coldplays drummer was at the radio city show… i said “hey richard” he said “my names will”. i said “exactly”
BoyceAvenue I don’t know how or why but every once in a while I get a Little Mermaid song stuck in my head. Sebastian, what a crustacean sensation.
BoyceAvenue All kids love sandboxes. All sandboxes smell like cat pee. Therefore, all kids smell like cat pee?
BoyceAvenue Crazy that some sponges are alive, right? The modern-day sponge I hope is modeled after the sea sponge, the most absorbent of all sponges.
BoyceAvenue Ever accidentally sit on toilet with both seats/lids up? It’s the worst. Not sure why, but just feels so cold & foreign … & yuckie!
Youtube
Another Starfield video that makes me laugh.
A Stellar Kart video that makes me laugh.
20th Anniversary of an Uprising for Democracy
Brave. There is a National Public Radio follow-up story on the students who revolted against China’s government.
Tiananmen Square, China. Note: The identity of the man, nicknamed "Tank Man," has remained unknown.
The question:
“So, 20 years later, what happened to that bold yearning for democracy? Why is China still frozen politically — the regime controls the press more tightly today than it did for much of the 1980s — even as China has transformed economically? Why are there so few protests today?”
Read NYT columnist Nicholas Kristof’s answer at the bottom of his opinion editorial on Tiananmen.
06.02.09
In the Mood to Jump, Jive and Wail
Tiffiny Wine, 23 Skidoo, Denver
I realized that I haven’t shown any evidence of my blog’s namesake or proof of it’s description – as authored by a swing lover.
Here are some of my favorite videos of swing dancing. I watch them in awe of the dancers’ mastery and style.
Skye and Frida Skye and Frida 2 Kevin and Sarah
Dan and Tiffiny Kevin and Emily
05.29.09
They make marriage look great
There are three movies that depict marriage in a way I particularly admire. I think it’s worth mention because marriage can be sad and tragic, but movies like these provide an idealistic to be aware of and an inspiration to hope for.
I’ll talk about those in a minute, but first I want to talk about a real marriage. Specifically, the moment it began fourteen days ago.
I attended my friend Brian and his wife Aimee’s wedding on May 15. It was a lovely ceremony and a lively reception, and I was so happy to be there. It had an effect on me.
I pretty much think of Brian as my “adopted” older brother. I value the friendship he’s given me over the last few years, and I hope to remain friends with he and Aimee for a long time.
I didn’t drink at the wedding, and I didn’t have a date. After I got back to my hotel and was sitting there alone, I started crying. It wasn’t because I was alone and single, woe is me. It was because I felt loss.
It took me a couple days to realize that I care enough about Brian that his getting married sort of felt like losing him. Now, there is no need to overreact here. I realize that it was emotional for most other people there; namely, people who are blood related to Brian and have known him much longer than I have.
But I knew this was coming, and that’s why I consider it an important revelation. What I know now is that it’s just one of those things. Marriage is a huge symbol and commitment and life change, for the couple and those who love them.
My best girl friend is getting married this year as well, and now I’m ready for it.
And now for some fictional stories of marital bliss:
(although the second one is supposedly true)
- Premonition. As a psychological thriller it’s certainly unconventional for depicting a good marriage, but I really like it. The couple is on the brink of turning away from one another when the wife, and then the husband, become resolved to save the relationship.
- Cinderella Man. A story about a boxer who gives his all to his family, and whose wife would follow him to the end of the earth even in the most trying dilemma.
- P.S., I Love You. Another unconventional portrayal of marriage since the couple isn’t together for most of the movie. I like this one because it shows how marriage is a rocky trail, but that you come out better, stronger and full of love in the end.
Childhood Reading
My parents are having a garage sale, and it was my job to go through boxes of junk from my younger years. I am sort of a pack rat, but I do enjoy blatant opportunities to toss things I’m tired of looking at or saving for a rainy day. I went through and gathered what I didn’t want that might fetch a price.
My parents had saved a big box, too heavy for my dad to pick up alone, full of children’s books. My mom wanted to keep most of them “for grandkids,” but I thought the number was a bit excessive. I pared down by getting rid of ones I didn’t have a distinct memory of or ones that looked creepy. (There was one with a sad little bunny crying; that’s just depressing).
It turns out that I remember a lot of books from a long time ago. I laughed in delight over some. I found it interesting how vividly memorable the illustrations and even the colors were.
Most of the books were for very small children, but there were some longer ones in there. Ah, the graduation to chapter books. I remember series like Animorphs, The Baby-sitters Club, Goosebumps, The Boxcar Children. I liked Nancy Drew, too. Besides adventure books like Hatchet and Far North that were about boys, I loved the brave heroines in Island of the Blue Dolphins and The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle.
“When you read a book as a child, it becomes a part of your identity in a way that no other reading in your whole life does.”Meg Ryan, You’ve Got Mail
05.28.09
Hug me here, hug me there, hug me anywhere
Hugs are: warm, friendly, loving, emotional, physical and… too common? People nowadays (you know, unlike when I was but a wee lass) are pretty huggy, aren’t they. There is almost like hug tension that builds after you meet a person and have known them for… a few hours? Days? Weeks? It varies. But that impulse comes upon us, and it’s like, “Hug now or forever hold your peace.”
I didn’t attend public school, so I didn’t grow up on non-family hugs. Apparently I missed a lot of them, though, according to some societal observations made in the New York Times story below. I found it an interesting little read, and then this blog grew out of the ponderings it produced in me. (It’s not just about high school hugging).
“There is so much hugging at Pascack Hills High School in Montvale, N.J., that students have broken down the hugs by type:
There is the basic friend hug, probably the most popular, and the bear hug, of course.But now there is also the bear claw, when a boy embraces a girl awkwardly with his elbows poking out. There is the hug that starts with a high-five, then moves into a fist bump, followed by a slap on the back and an embrace. There’s the shake and lean; the hug from behind; and, the newest addition, the triple — any combination of three girls and boys hugging at once.” Keep reading.
Story: Sarah Kershaw, May 27, 2009
05.25.09
Unlikely Soundtrack Has Big Impact
I never watched the late 90s/early ’00s teen drama show Dawson’s Creek, but I do have the soundtrack. I, like so many others, loved that popalicious hit “Kiss Me” by Sixpence None the Richer. Since I couldn’t find the band’s album, I bought the Dawson’s Creek soundtrack for that song. Sixpence is great, but the whole soundtrack ended up pleasantly surprising me.
Two songs on that CD stuck with me and gave me reason to become a fan, to this day, of James Maddock and Curtis Stigers. The songs are, respectively, “Stay You” (by Wood, Maddock’s former band) and “To Be Loved.” I definitely boast of both muscians’ music, but James Maddock is really a diamond in the rough.
James Maddock
While Stigers is a contemporary jazz singer and saxophonist, Maddock is of the acoustic genre. He once lightheartedly described his music as “folk rock fantasy,” and I love how perfect a catchphrase that is for him.
Lyrically, his self-written music is a great mix of hopeful love, hurtful love, reminisced memories, social satire and life experiences. He’s a guitarist, harmonica player and, as far as I know, is fluent on other instruments. And for all this he is… virtually unknown. He has some big-name support (from Bruce “The Boss” Springsteen, for one), but his career hasn’t yet lifted off into the oblivion of music success.
I mind this since his limited resources prevents him from touring much at all. At the same time I don’t mind being one in his small fan base since it means he can still communicate personally with us!
I’m glad I got that television soundtrack and know the music of this great song master.
