Avi Kaplan

Well, this post was supposed to go up yesterday but I figure my follower will forgive me (I got big jokes). Today let's discuss Avi Kaplan.  He's one of the members of Pentatonix, and here's what happened: The other day I was listening to music but my phone doesn't go very loud.  I put YouTube up on TV so I could hear it all over the house while I cleaned.  As I walked past on one of my trips, I got distracted (my natural state) and watched a minute or two of a music video.  This popped up:

In the midst of a perfectly normal day, this face is startlingly attractive.  It was, like... jarring.  I enjoyed it.  Now you can, too. 

Candyman

I'd like to share with you quickly a little bit about my relationship with scary movies. As I mentioned, I started reading Stephen King when I was nine years old, and I've been watching horror since long before then. As an adult, not many scary movies can keep my heart racing all the way to the end but when I was a kid I was much easier to hold. I've always loved being frightened by movies, and I've always kind of chased that high of being terrified to turn the light off bedtime. If you've read my posts up to now (particularly this one) you'll know that the town I grew up in was an hour from civilization in the two closest directions so I can literally count on one hand the movies that I saw in theaters between '86 and '92. Candyman, Death Becomes Her, Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Who Framed Roger Rabbit are the only ones that come to mind. Of those four, only one left me terrified at bedtime, and as a matter of fact I was terrified at all times! Even though I was plenty old enough to have been jaded about the genre in general, I guess seeing it on the big screen really affected me and I was scared enough to even pee with the door cracked open for probably a full week. It remains the most afraid I've ever been of a movie and it holds a very dear place in my heart. 

Now. Recently I discovered Tony Todd, the Candyman himself, is on Twitter. I followed him immediately and tried to come up with some way to put all of this information into 140 characters but before I could, I found that he's one of the celebrities who follows the fans who follow him! Obviously, he doesn't know me from Adam on Twitter but still... he followed me! He's my Twitter follower and he seems to read fan tweets often. This is a big day for me and I'm going to use it wisely! He's getting a link to this post in addition his fan letter, and hopefully he'll read it. Keep checking back on Twitter, folks! I just may receive a mention!

Demi Lovato

Hey, pals.  I have a question for you.  Have you ever listened to Demi Lovato?  Because I hadn't until recently.  I hadn't heard anything bad about her or anything, it's just that I'm 35 years old and it had never occurred to me to give her a try.  Then one night on James Corden (I watch the show the next day because who can stay up that late?) she sang Stone Cold.  You guys, it was simply gorgeous.  Her voice was beautiful and the lyrics, which she co-wrote, were touching.  Every once in a while I find myself Googling that video to listen to while I do whatever I'm doing.  I'll link it here and let you all judge for yourselves.  Gimme those comments down below, folks!  Let me know if you like it too.

Dr Seuss

One of the fairly obvious things about me is that I love kids.  I've taught preschool and kindergarten, I've worked at summer day camp, I've got my own two boys and I'm obviously a bit obsessed with kids' books and movies.  As I'm sure everyone on the planet knows, kids love being read to.  My favorite books to read aloud to kids are Dr Seuss books.  The rhymes fit perfectly in my mouth and the silly topics and made-up words make it just that much more fun.  The absolute best one to read is Green Eggs and Ham.  I like to start out pleasant and polite, but get progressively more annoyed and upset.  The kids get all worked up and they really invest in the story.  It's so much fun! Today I'll leave you with a few pictures of my arm to look at.  I've got some Seuss ink that I hope you enjoy.  It goes over really well with little kids!

All this work was done at Eternal Buzz in Huntingtown, Md

I don't think that's a thing anymore.

Now You See Me 2

A few years ago I saw Now You See me because a friend invited me and as a mom with a new baby, I hadn't been out of the house much.  I went and saw it, asking during the previews what it was about, and I ended up really liking it.  When I saw that there was going to be a sequel coming out on the exact weekend of my anniversary, I knew I had to see it.  Actually, to be honest, I held out hope up until about 9:00 the night before that my husband would agree to go to our local community theater to watch The King and I.  He wouldn't.  But last year we spent our anniversary there watching The Sound of Music, so I guess it was his turn to pick.  I actually loved the sequel a lot more than I liked the original! And I even learned a couple of things.  First, I think it's obvious that Woody Harrelson is an actual hypnotist because he was never a 'Dave Franco' and now he's aging but I'd still... you know... give him the time of day.  And second, Harry Potter grew up HOT!  It's the beard and the eyelashes.  I'm a sucker for em.  This is something I know about myself.  Also, he was the shortest one in the movie.  That's kind of my thing. 

*sigh* So hot. 

Anyway, my recommendation is that you get out there and see that movie.  It's really great.  It even has Lizzy Caplan from Mean Girls! Extra fun!  And the part I was hoping for was a Hogwarts reference.  It's there, if you pay attention.  Watch and see. 

Beauty and the Beast

Hey pals, how do you chose your favorite Disney movie? Some people pick a favorite character, a strong storyline or a good moral.  I 100% choose by which songs I like the best.  So, while my favorite Disney movie is obviously Mulan (I mean, you've heard those songs, right?), the next best is Beauty and the Beast.  I guess it's been vaulted for awhile and I've been searching for it everywhere.  I had it on VHS but that doesn't help anyone anymore, so I tried to find it on DVD for less than it cost to make the movie in the first place.  It was slow going and it almost never happened.  My friend Marci has an eBay shop and it requires her to go to yard sales every single weekend.  My other friend Andrea has been (unbeknownst to me) reminding her for at least five years, but maybe closer to ten that I was looking for that movie, and a few weeks ago, she found it!  I cannot tell you how excited I am to finally have that movie and all the bonus features on the second disk!  You may not have known this, but Cogsworth was played by David Ogden Stiers, who was Winchester on M*A*S*H.  Such an adorable little clock he was, too! 

Finally... my precious.

So, hey.  Tell me this.  Does anyone remember in the 90s when McDonalds was selling and giving out those tapes in the Happy Meals?  The one I got was Buddy Songs and it included You've Got a Friend in Me from Toy Story and Candle on the Water from Pete's Dragon.  Well, it also had The Gaston Song from Beauty and the Beast, and I don't even know how many times I rewound that tape to hear that song!  It's definitely my favorite from that movie and I dissolve into laughter when I hear these lines from after the main song is over:

Lefou, I'm afraid I've been thinking.

A dangerous pastime.

I know.

If that's not comedic genius, what is?

Saturday Spotlight: Borganix

It's been quite awhile since I found something new (or just new to me) that I cared about and actually enjoyed enough to write a Saturday Spotlight about.  This weekend, I'd like to share some music with you, but let me start at the beginning.  My friend from high school used to be in this band that was named after him, called Unkle Nancy and the Family Jewels.  Look them up on YouTube for a good time.  In particular, if you can find anything from an album called Lovely... you've found some amazing work that I can't get enough of.  Lyrics like, "I want you to know me like the sun knows the sky" are what make that album for me.  But then Unkle Nancy's health needed some attention so not a lot of new music came from the guys for a good long time.

Me listening to Unkle Nancy in Berlin

Now, my friend and a couple of his friends, Marv Ellis Daddy-yo and met diggy are working together to bring us something new.  Both the sound and the medium are pretty unusual, but really pretty great.  The sound is a mix of everything, but in a good way.  They found a way to mix kind of alternative with rap and add a flute without sounding insane or like total wankers (because I watch a lot of British TV).  The music is hot, the lyrics are hot (and explicit; it's rap) and the guys need our help to take it to the masses.  Instead of trying to release a traditional album, which they've already successfully done, so why beat that dead horse? they're going to release a series of podcasts called Borganix.  I'll post a link to their Gofundme and here's what I need from you: just click the link, read the description and listen to the music.  If you like it and feel like donating, knock yourself out, then share it with your friends.  If you can't drop some spange, it's cool and if the music isn't your style that's cool too.  Either way I'm just saying, try to think of a friend who might like the tunes and share, share, share!  Don't pressure anyone to donate, but do give them a little nudge until they listen.  I think a lot of people will like it, so let's get the music out there!  Thanks, pals!  Here's that link: https://www.gofundme.com/borganix