Here's an article that might interest anyone who loved Tiger Beat during the 60s, 70s or early 80s...can't believe it's still around today and apparently thriving well:)

I just noticed the date on the article is from the early 00's, but it links to current sites that are pretty nifty if you have a fondness for David Cassidy and other teen idols from his generation...

link

groovy site:)
(make sure you check out the "yard sale" section...that's the neatest part!)

Over the weekend I found myself listening to AOL's awesome 80s alternative radio station....unfortunately, listening to it got me in LOTS of trouble because I impulsively went on the Amazon MP3 store and bought beautiful stuff like The OMD Singles:

and this amazing single I'd somehow forgotten about:

("Rain in the Summertime")

and also this:






I must have been musically asleep through much of the 80s because I didn't remember a lot of what AOL played on Saturday and Sunday...so many great sounds.

You should try it sometime:

aol radio

...the feeling...






For some of us there's this thing that starts when we're young and we see our first romantic comedy or hear a wonderful love song or see someone special for the first time...we're not cynical yet...we haven't learned that most of that stuff is nothing but a bunch of lies...a BIG bunch of lies

...when we get older and realize that love probably isn't in the cards for us, if we're romantic at heart, we still don't let that get to the core of who we are and spoil us.

...we still smile when we see elderly couples walking in the park, holding hands...we still let out a burst of joy when our friend tells us she's getting married...we still cry at movies where the two people in love finally tell each other how they feel...

...we still (no matter how many years have gone by) just hope.

Even though I have long admired Karen Carpenter's lovely singing voice I really didn't want to buy or read the new biography about her. Way back in the mid-90s I read another book (The Carpenters: The Untold Story by Ray Coleman) that somehow managed to sound sincere and exploitative at the same time. While Randy L. Schmidt is no doubt 100% sincere and about as far from sensationalistic as a writer can get, Little Girl Blue leaves me feeling so sad and as if everything I just finished reading was nothing more than a futile experience...like watching your favorite tear-jerker movie and expecting it to end differently.

The bio is very well-written and Karen Carpenter emerges not only as the very talented and kind woman she was, but also as a funny and witty person who valued friendship and family over the shallow things celebrities sometimes embrace.

We learn of some of her many experiences in the recording studio and some of the things she liked (she was crazy about I Love Lucy), but it would have been neat to know more about those kinds of things...of course, it's possible that kind of info just wasn't available. The extensive notes and bibliography Schmidt include makes it clear that he is a first-rate researcher and worked very hard on this touching book.

Definitely not THAT Mr. Peanut!

Mr. Peanut by Adam Ross (so far, at least!) is a very haunting and intiguing read...so what if Entertainment Weekly magazine gave it a C? It can be a bit too bleak at times and even a bit too odd (usually, nothing's ever too odd for me) but besides the suspense and bizarre relationship that the husband and wife share there's the underlying issue of  weight (and weight loss) that I've never seen captured so well by a male writer before...

When I was seven or eight (I think) I was playing with my sister in our living room while some tv movie played on in the background. I'm pretty sure it was an ABC movie. In an almost haunting way I've never forgotten this because of what I remember about the movie (even though it's over thirty years later.)

For anyone too young to recall (or too busy to watch tv!:) ) the ABC movie of the week was as much a part of the prime time line-up as "Happy Days" or "Charlie's Angels." The movies could be amazingly cheesy, but they were sometimes actually better than you could ever imagine (The Cracker Factory with Natalie Wood comes to mind.)

In the scene of the movie I'm thinking of two women were out to lunch, both of them stylish and gorgeous. One of them, a blond, wore an incredibly vivid shade of red lipstick and nail polish. We're talking a red so red it jumped off the screen and scared me. The blond must have been nervous or mad because her nails were digging into the palms of her hand so deep blood started to run.

Now I know this sounds bizarre. But I had this dream about it the other night and unlike most of my dreams, I think this is a memory, but the more I think about it the more I wonder. It just doesn't sound like something that would have been on tv, especially back then...

So I'm hoping to track down the book pictured above and find out once and for all if what I'm remembering is memory or dream...

I'm looking forward to this EP coming out in September. Rumer sounds enough like Karen Carpenter to make this an intriguing listen:

slow

I think I may have discovered what the "beyond" in Bed, Bath and Beyond is!:)

Last night I was looking for new bath towels when I found a small dvd section of items drastically reduced. To my happy surprise I discovered The Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm Show-The Complete Series (normally $22.98) was $5.99!!!

When I was about eight years old and this was still airing on Saturday morning tv in the 70s I couldn't get enough. It made me think that high school was going to be this fun and magical place where your pet (mistaken for a football player with amazing skill!) could walk through the halls with you and everyone (even the bullies)  would be either friendly or funny, sometimes both! Music and dancing (late 60s style) would also be an everyday thing.

Of course this turned out to not be true, but I didn't know that then and I loved every second. I also didn't realize then that Sally Struthers voiced Pebbles and Jay North (of Dennis the Menace fame) voiced Bamm-Bamm.

Last night as I watched the first two episodes I couldn't believe the memories from my childhood that came rushing back. It looks a lot different to me now, but somehow I enjoyed it just as much...which sort of worries me as an adult!:)

 "It...it's just like I remember it. It still has that, that smell. What is THAT? Books. Frustration?" from Too Cool To Be Forgotten

I love this graphic novel about a man who is trying to quit smoking and with his new holistic treatment program somehow lands back in high school circa 1985 where he has to relive his geeky formative years; it's a great book!!:)...

There is lots of humor to be find and pop culture references a plenty...all of which may make you wonder: would you want to go back and do it all over again?

Well...if, like Andy, you find yourself thinking (in lovely cartoon bubble): "...just walking these halls fills me with vomit-inducing anxiety" you may have your answer...

Grown-ups and stuffed animals?? I love how reassuring this answer is...

When my niece was younger she was crazy about Webkinz animals and the online world that went with them. Since she's gotten older she's lost all interest and now all of the animals live with me. But I don't mind because they hang out with all of my teddy bears and polar bears and just plain bears. I worry sometimes I'm too old to have such a large stuffed animal collection, but I think they make my place look cozy and welcoming...

Just listened to this after I bought it off the Amazon download store...awesome!!! And what a great collaboration this will be as an entire album when it's released at the end of September. It's a great idea shared by two people who obviously love music a lot!!! Yay!!

It's Sunday night and every week Jack 102.7 airs an old American Top 40 show from the 80s. It's sort of nice to listen to songs I haven't thought about in years while I get ready for the upcoming work week...sometimes I hear things I don't remember at all and other times the memories associated with the songs are so strong it's like entering a time machine.

This evening Jack is re-runing the August 9, 1986 edition. Two songs on the countdown ("Stuck By You" by Huey Lewis and the News and "Words Get in the Way" by Miami Sound Machine) were my absolute favorites back then. That summer I got to see Huey Lewis and the News in concert at Merriweather Post Pavillion...at least  I think it was that summer...memory can be so unreliable!

I'm loving this book so far...it's funny and touching and very well-written. It deals with some of my favorite things: Molly Ringwald movies, legendary singers, high school crushes reappearing 15 years later and getting over the past once and for all...more on this great book later!!:)

Can music make you high? I think so...but only in the best and safest way possible. Some people, though, are worried that teens are using that kind of music buzz the wrong way. How does that even work? Read here for more details:

read here

I try a lot more sleep aids than I probably should, mostly because nothing ever seems to work and like most people I crave a good night's rest with (hopefully) as few nightmares as possible. That's why I was so hopeful about using Sweetest Dreams for the first time. I had never heard of the product and, noticing it was on sale at my local health food store, took it to the check-out counter for purchase.

It contains L-Theanine and Melatonin which made me think this was going to be a sure bet. L-Theanine is good for relaxing the brain and melatonin for good sleep and dream recall.

At first I found myself peaceful and having a good kind of buzz...I started feeling that great way you do when sleep begins to set in and all is right with the world. But an hour later, my eyes were wide open and I was awake for the night.

Four hours later I finally drifted off, but it was time for work two hours after that and I went through the day exhausted. Same thing the next night when I decided to give the product another chance.

Trying for one more chance I went for a third night, only to find that I had the worst nightmares of my life (the worst!) and a raging headache when I woke up. This morning I tucked the jar away until I can figure out what to do with it.

I hate to malign Solgar because their stuff is usually very effective, but I'll pass on this one. If you're in a pinch and just have to sleep, even knowing you'll be a bit off the next day, benedryl puts you out like that (snapping fingers)...but honestly, I look forward to the day more effective (and less groggy) sleep aids exist on the market!!

"We're going to need a Speak N' Spell and 7 pounds of mashed potatoes."- from the July 28th episode of Psych

I'm more of a Psych girl than a Burn Notice one.When I watch BN I feel like I did in high school, watching the popular kids (who were not only gorgeous, but knew all the right things to say) from afar, but never really understanding them...mildly curious about what it would be like to be one of them, but knowing I had a snowball's chance in Hell of ever finding out.

With Psych there are still lots of good-looking people to be found, but they're down-to-earth and about as subtle and suave as Roseanne at Fashion Week.

I don't think Burn Notice is a bad show at all. In fact, I like the writing and the voice-overs and the secondary characters played by Sharon Gless and Bruce Campbell very very much. But Psych makes me laugh and feel warm and welcome. It fills the big gaping hole that Monk, the USA character who most speaks to me, left behind.

from Amazon's website:

Having nearly exhausted their capacity for pop-song politics on War and The Unforgettable Fire, U2 turned toward themes of personal identity and complex relationships on The Joshua Tree. Not that the group was willing to come down off the barricades entirely: "Mothers of the Disappeared" and "Bullet the Blue Sky" turned a jaundiced eye toward Central America and the United States' role there. But the predominant mood here is one of self-discovery and the hunger for something more on tracks like the pulsating "Where the Streets Have No Name" and the gospel-ish "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For." The album's masterstroke, however, is "With or Without You," a nasty love song dressed up as an ode of devotion and care. It ranks with the Police's "Every Breath You Take" as the most misread smash hit of the '80s. --Daniel Durchholz




I was a junior in high school when Joshua Tree was released. I didn't understand the big deal surrounding the album and in fact ended up getting sick of all the talk and the constant sounds of  the hit singles on the radio. Bono irritated me for no reason I could explain.

But then last year I was driving home late at night, when the dashboard lights and the quiet hour make everything seem surreal and the mind is more vulnerable to loneliness and heartbreak. "With or Without You" came on unexpectedly on Jack 102.7 and suddenly I found myself bawling like a baby.

I thought it was the most beautiful thing I'd ever heard, that it perfectly explained how you could both love someone and hate them at the same time. Of course I knew and know U2 is about far more than heartbreak and personal feelings...that they can be tied up in political messages as well...but that song haunted me for days afterward as did "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" when I finally listened (really listened) to Joshua Tree for the first time.

Now I can't imagine not owning the album!

The summer of 1994...my  friends and I were driving along the hills surrounding historic Ellicott City late at night, enjoying the windows rolled down and the feeling that usually comes with having a weekend and few things to worry about. Our fearless leader was driving just a tad too fast and blaring his van stereo as usual when a song I had never heard before came on the radio....synchronized beats and raw energy and lyrics about "f$*cking like an animal."

I asked one of my pals what the song was and she told me right away. "Closer" by Nine Inch Nails. The guy singing was someone named Trent Razor and words like 'isolation' and 'absence of faith' and 'my whole existence is flawed' filtered out to me amidst all the carnal rage of the music. I loved it almost immediately, even though it was more harsh than the stuff I was regularly listening to at the time. But it felt wild and more honest than most anything I'd heard that summer.

To this day I think about that summer night whenever I hear Nine Inch Nails and I wonder how sixteen years have gone by and carefree times with old friends on summer nights is harder to come now that we're all on different paths. Somehow...summer seems more connected to songs that leave you open and ready for anything...