Music Acts in Super Bowl XLV

Here's a review of the musical acts that performed in the Super Bowl. Most people talk about the ads, but as my loyal readers know, I love music.

Christina Aguilera- Although some of her songs are not the greatest, I think she has an amazing voice because it's well supported and she has a great range. However, she did not do a good job singing the national anthem. I'm not even talking about her forgetting the lyrics; I think she chose the wrong key to sing it in. It was a letdown for me to see such a talented singer give a mediocre, at best, performance because I know that she can do better than that.

Lea Michele- She's a Broadway star! One of the reasons why I don't watch Glee is because that show does not do her justice. She has gone from being a great, budding singer, into sounding like any other teen idol, nasally head voice and all. At the beginning of the song, I was cringing just listening to how far she had sunk. But as the song progressed, I heard a definite improvement in the quality of her voice and by the end, all the Glee had elevated to the Broadway star quality that I knew she still had to have in her.

Black Eyed Peas- Fergie, shut the fuck up and let Axl- with all his ego and control freakishness- sing "Sweet Child of Mine"! Even with auto-tuned microphones, there were times where you could hear that they were just speaking and letting technology do all the work. They were out of tune and times and did not support their voices at all. The best part of the half-time show was when Slash appeared on stage for all of 45 seconds. I do like the songs the Black Eyed Peas played, I really do, but they aren't very good live. The costumes looked like alien football pads. Big shoulders went out of style in the 80's people! There wasn't anything exciting about the show in general either. They didn't seem to have any energy or passion for what they were doing. The light suits the extras wore were cool- kind of Tron style, but again, nothing spectacular.

The Sting of Memory

Don't you hate it when things from your past come back to tease you? No, not haunt. It's not as dramatic as that. It's little things, like an unexpected e-mail or text from someone you thought you'd never talk to again. As e-mail not to confront or beg but rather to ask for information because you have information that the other person needs and they have no other source to turn to but you. Or sometimes someone has done something to you in the past and then a completely unrelated person does the same exact thing? You can't hold it against the second person, it's not their fault that you have something against their action because it has been tainted by someone else. But you can't help but feel a little bit miffed by it. The worst one for me is music. You all of a sudden hear a song that someone introduced you to, a song that you don't normally listen to, a song that is now embedded with meaning, memories, and the essence of that person, a song that you haven't listened to since the last time you saw that person. I guess it's because I use songs to express how I feel. I've posted a number of blogs about songs that I've dedicated to a boyfriend, or an ex, songs that are hidden gems and a whole blog about one band.
I don't want to go into specifics as to why I'm writing this post because it wouldn't be fair to the person who has inadvertently awoken a kind of phantom jealousy inside me. It's not his fault; it's me who has to deal with the ghosts of my past and put them to rest so that I won't get upset.
P.S. this is actually a picture I took and edited. This is my boyfriend's eye that I supersaturated and placed it over the black and white picture of his eye.

My Favorite Things

This is a partial list of my favorite things. They are in no particular order and I was inspired by the song "My Favorite Things" from the classic movie musical "The Sound of Music". I would love to know some of your favorite things. Comment below and let me know! :)
* Chandeliers
* Pretty dresses
* Cute socks
* Highlighters
* Chocolate
* Acoustic guitars
* Music
* Dancing
* Football
* Dramatic make-up
* Cavalier puppies
* Pianos
* Old books
* Food
* The beach
* Flowers
* Kisses
* Jewelry
* Cloche hats
* Old movies
* Cuddly animals
* Sleeping
* Victorian houses
* The beautiful stranger
* Soprano voices
* Deep manly voices
* Sewing
* Writing letters

Beach Christmas

Ok, so since not everyone lives in a place where snow is a major part of the holidays, I've decided to write a little song for us non-snow birds and share with the snow birds how wonderful it is to live in a place that's always nice, warm, and sunny. Now like most parody songs, I just took the melody of "White Christmas" and changed the words around a little. Credit for the melody goes to Irving Berlin, the words however are my own.

I'm living through a warm Christmas
Just like the ones I used to know
Where the palm trees a-sway
and people a-swim
in beaches drenched in sunlight.

I'm living through a warm Christmas
With every kitch postcard I write
May you not congeal and freeze
Oh I'm glad my Chistmas is at the beach!

New Top 5 Underrated and Underappreciated

1) Streetlights by Ludo- I LOVE Ludo. I know that I already have a post about them, but they really are worth checking out. If I had to pick one song as my favorite, I would have to pick this one. It's a mostly acoustic song with an "stereotypical Italian" style guitar in the instrumental parts. The lyrics are not the typical Ludo lyrics with a peppering of nerdy references; it's a more straightforward romantic song. It does tell a little story like many other Ludo songs. It's about the moment before you confess your love to someone. There's the nervousness, the anticipation, the giddiness, the purity of the moment. The words create very vivid images that create a little movie in my head. I can see two youths standing on the sidewalk beneath a streetlight in the early summer dusk.

2) Michael Buble- I know I didn't list a song. Just about anything by this man is sexy, baby-making music. He has that Frank Sinatra, Harry Connick Jr sound. A little jazzy, a little bluesy, with a generous helping of swing. He does a lot of the standard songs like "Feeling Good", "Fly Me to the Moon", "Georgia on my Mind" and "Me and Mrs. Jones". He also has originals which he writes for his girlfriends. "Home", "Lost", "Haven't Met You Yet" are such examples. He has a sexy voice that goes well with the body it's in. He is gorgeous. He has a classic look with a modern flair. No piercings, no bad haircuts, no guyliner either. He's my new husband, he just doesn't know it yet because he hasn't met me yet. <3

3) Over the Hills and Far Away by Nightwish- They are known as a symphonic metal band. I prefer Tarja to Anette even though Tarja is a diva. This song tells a story reminiscent of The Count of Monte Cristo and it is similar to a traditional English. song dating back to the 1700's. You can hear that influence in the music. However, this is a cover of Gary Moore. I've never heard the Gary Moore version so I don't know how they compare. Check it out and let me know.

4) Symphony by Sarah Brightman- She originated the role of Christine Daae. Do not tell me anyone is better than her because that role was written specifically for her. It's no wonder either because with a voice like the one she has...it's like an angel. Her voice glides over the notes and resonates leaving you mystified as opposed to sad, because the lyrics are sad. It sounds like a song an ice skater would use in her program.

5) Memories by Within Temptation- A band I have recently been introduced to from the Netherlands. They are classified as symphonic metal, gothic metal, and symphonic rock. If you like Evanescence but want something more alternative, something a little bit fresher and not as played out, you will probably like this band. Sharon den Adel's voice is more operatic and more in the soprano range, somewhere between Amy Lee and Sarah Brightman. 'Memories' is one of those songs who words pierce your soul especially when you use your memories to keep someone who's gone close by.

Elephant Man- The story of a dress

I can't believe I've been able to write so many posts the past month or so!
I'm currently involved in a production of "The Elephant Man" as the costume designer. Below is the story of how I got the job, the story of Sundance, and my rescue.

Last year I took the beginning costume class and I really enjoyed it. I knew that I wanted to learn more and really be good at sewing. So this summer I volunteered with a seamstress. During the course of the summer, I found out that I really wanted to sew and work with costumes. How the hell I was going to do that, I didn’t know. I just figured I’d move to New York at some point after graduation and find a costume house that would hire me. But in October I was at the Japanese restaurant formerly known as Shooting Star with my boyfriend, Sam, and the guy that I had been talking to for the past six months, but had only met a few hours ago, Max. At Shooting Star, I saw this guy. I didn’t know his name, or exactly where I knew him from, but he looked really familiar. I leaned over and over the deafening bluegrass music I told Sam “I know that guy. I don’t know how I know him, nor do I know his name, but I know him.” Turns out, Sam knew him from when he volunteered at the Acrosstown Repertoire Theater (ART). I nudged him to go and say hello. Eventually, they come back to where Max and I were sitting. Sam introduces me to Mike and he starts telling me about how he’s going to be directing “The Elephant Man” at ART. So we’re talking about what we’re studying, etc. and it comes back to the play because I tell him that I’m into costumes. He was telling me he wanted to keep it as simple as taking off coats to delineate one character from another since there was going to be a lot of double casting. But I started throwing out ideas and I’m not 100% sure how exactly it happened, but he gave me the job of being the costume designer for this show. Sam and Max are just sitting there in silence watching me magically get this job. I warned them as we were walking to the car that I was going to let out a long, loud, shrill scream.
When I first went to ART, I looked at the costume stock. I found one dress that would work and would not need a lot of fixing. She is Beloved. (Yes, I named some of the costumes.) Then I found 3 wedding dresses and lots of fabric that used to be curtains. I decided in a sheer moment of delusional madness that I’d take these wedding dresses and this fabric and convert them into Victorian gowns. Thus I began to work on Sundance. Mind you, this gown would be on stage for all of 5 minutes in total, I don’t have a sewing machine, this wedding dress looks like the worst of the ‘80’s vomited and that birthed this dress, and I don’t have anybody to help me. This wedding dress has pearl beads, sequins, lace, a long train, poofy shoulders that extend into lace sleeves, and bows. There were 4 Lady Gaga sized bows on the train alone. I took those shits off. They had to go. How did I go about tackling this monstrosity? I turned the train into the bustle for starters. I then put burgundy fabric under the poofy shoulders and am now in the process of adding the same burgundy fabric to the skirt of the dress. It’s actually really starting to take form now.
Mike offered to get in contact with the costume designer at the Hippodrome which I eagerly took the offer without shame. I needed help and lots of it! There was no way in hell I could pull this off by myself. This is my first show, after all. So this past Saturday, we went and raided the costume stock of the Hippodrome. I took several coats, a number of dresses, a couple nun frocks, a bishop’s robes, and a chef coat that will be Merrick’s patient garb. Marilyn was also nice enough to let us borrow the hood she made for the Hipp’s production of “The Elephant Man” thirty-eight years, almost to the date, of our production. She even offered to help me in any way she could including letting me come over to dye Sundance, or use the sewing machines.
So now I can go home on Christmas break, finish up Sundance, and rest easy knowing that I was able to get most of the costumes done. I only have a few loose ends to tie up and then we’re good to go. This is definitely an experience. I figure ‘if I can pull this off when I have so few resources, imagine what I can do when I have more available to me.’ Not only have I learned so much about what it takes to put a show together, but I’ve made valuable connections with people who have worked in the field, out in the real world.

The picture attached is indeed a picture of Sundance before I started working on it.

Your Love- a free verse poem

To commemorate the three month mark of my relationship, I've written a poem. It's free verse, almost stream of consciousness.

Your love has saved me from the darkness I have come to know.
I had forgotten what it was like to be loved,
What it was like to cry
What it was like to smile.
But your love has shown me a new way to live
What it means to be alive
What it means to be young.
I can’t believe how much has transpired between us.
Never thought I’d see you in this way
Nearly a year ago when I met you
But now I’m glad for your love.
Your love wraps around me
Like a blanket in a cold winter’s night.
Your love has me protected
From fears that once ate me alive.
Now I can say ‘I love you’ without fear of falling
Because I know you’ll catch me
With the strength of your love.