Friday Five

1. In my personal opinion, "Love, Actually" is by far the best movie ever made.  It has it all - heart, laughs, cute boys, London.  I mean really, everything you could ever want in a RomCom is in "Love, Actually."  So to say that I was excited about its "reboot" for Red Nose Day, was an understatement.  And after seeing its trailer, I'm beyond excited.  Of course, since I live in the States, I'm supposed to wait until May to see the full 10 minutes.  Ugh!  
             

2. I spend a lot of time these days talking about how great Seth Meyers is these days, but honestly.  He's killing it every night!  This bit from last night on the health care bill, and SNL is beyond hilarious.  
          

3. And speaking of the health care bill - my most favorite thing that happened this week, is that finally some people in the House came to their senses and weren't able to provide enough votes for Trump and Co. to pass their ridiculously dangerous health care bill so it was pulled.  That particular bill would have hurt millions of hard-working people.  The ACA may not be perfect, but it's helped a lot of people.  And maybe, just maybe if the current administration would spend more time on making it better than trying to overturn it, they might actually help Americans for a change rather than take important things, like access to healthcare, away from them.

4. This made me smile lots!  #TeamJess

Got a prime parking spot and a welcome sign pullin in....Love you too ;) #ThisIsUs #TuesdayLoveStill. MV pic.twitter.com/cKLDpytQMZ

— Milo Ventimiglia (@MiloVentimiglia) March 21, 2017

5. "The Little Mermaid" was one of my faves when I was little.  It fell just below "The Lion King" and Aladdin." I'm not a huge Disney Nerd, but I do remember watching these 3 constantly.  So hearing they were making a live action version, I was a little skeptical.  I mean, I'm never a huge fan of just re-making old stuff.  I like new ideas and when the old stuff is so good, why try to best it?  This is probably why I'm not running a studio in LA, but anyway, that's not my point.  My point is, this week Alan Menken who is directing the movie - with Lin Manuel-Miranda providing the music - went to the press with his idea for Ursula.  His genius idea - Harvey Fierstein! An idea I geeked out about for a few hours, until Harvey took to the press to say - "Make it happen!  Your wish is my command!" which made me geek out even more.  Harvey Fierstein with the tentacles and the eels?  How could that not be anything but amazing??

Friday Five: Chrismas Edition

I don't know about you, but my official start of the holiday season is when the radio stations start playing Christmas music around the clock.  Sure they play the same 10 songs over and over again, but it never fails to get me in the Christmas mood.  So as a start to (hopefully) a few holiday themed Friday Fives, here are my top 5 favorite Christmas songs.

1. "All I Want for Christmas is You" by Mariah Carey: But honestly the version I like the best isn't by Mariah Carey at all.  It's by the students and teachers in one of the last scenes in "Love, Actually", which just happens to be another holiday tradition for me, and just so happens to be the best romantic comedy ever made.  It's the perfect scene and song combo and I can never watch without getting a big stupid grin on my face.  And of course whenever I hear the song on the radio, the scene never fails to play in my head.

2. "Old City Bar" by Trans-Siberian Orchestra: If you've never heard TSO, imagine a Punk-Rock version of Manheim Steamroller.  They write 90% of their songs with some classics thrown in for good measure.  Their concerts are full of musicians wearing tuxedos and fancy dresses, full orchestras and electric guitars,  and lasers & fog.  It's entirely too difficult to explain and sounds ridiculous but it all works and makes for quite the spectacle.  I would probably list every one of their songs from their four Christmas CDs as my favorites (they are my constant holiday soundtrack usually starting in November) but this one, by far, is my absolute favorite.  It's not just a song;  it's a story and perfectly captures the feeling and the magic of Christmas.

 

3. "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen" by Barenaked Ladies and Sarah McLachlan: This is one of those songs that the darn radio stations never play.  It's just a fun version of an old classic.

 

4. "Carol of the Bells" by Manheim Steamroller: I'm pretty sure that even if you hate Christmas music, you are guaranteed to at least know Carol of the Bells.  And who better to perform it than the masters of Christmas music?  This has been one of my favorite versions of this song since I was little.

 

5. "Coming Home" by Sugarland: I'm a HUGE fan of Sugarland and will pretty much listen to anything they release.  Their Christmas album is absolutely fantastic so choosing just one was difficult.  "Coming Home" kind of falls into the same category as "Old City Bar".  It's pretty much a story and perfectly captures the feeling of family at Christmas.

 

*6. (Bonus because I couldn't leave this song off the list) "The 12 Days of Christmas" by Straight No Chaser: I've always loved this song.  It was a tradition to sing  and dance (oh yes, there were accompanying dance moves) this song in high school every year at the Christmas concert.  An entire auditorium full of high school girls , screaming "5 Gooooolllldennnnn Rings" was quite the sight to behold.  It's even more fun to try to teach all the moves to a group of 4-year olds, while desperately trying to remember how many drummers were drumming or ladies were dancing.  Though, I'm absolutely certain they looked much cuter than we did even if we didn't quite get the words down.  So I was super excited when this new version popped up on the radio last year. Absolutely no one I know likes it, but I happen to think it's brilliant!



"From Notting Hill, With Love...Actually"

I've just finished the most amazing book!  I've been dying to read it since it came out and finally broke down and bought it this weekend. 430 pages and 3 days later, I'm finished and wishing she'd write another one pronto!  As a chick and a fan of all things chick-flick, of course I'm in love with "Notting Hill" and "Love...Actually" ("Love...Actually" is actually in my top 5 movies of all time).  A book that joined both would have to be pretty spectacular and it so was.

It's a fairly simple love story but the best part was that I could almost hear myself in the main character, Scarlet.  She's obsessed with movies and the cinema and is looking for some of that magic in her life.  I'm not a big movie buff, but I often assume that life will turn out like it does in the movies and TV.  After she goes looking for those kinds of experiences by taking off to London, where much hilarity ensues and she realizes that love...actually is all around (heehee, see what I did there?!). 

It's one of those books that I'm hoping my friends and family will read.  After a quick read, I kinda hope they may not think I'm so out there anymore.  All in all, a fabulous read!