(DO NOT READ if you watch "Medium" and haven't seen the finale yet!)





I just finished watching the series finale of "Medium." I don't normally say this, but I'm going to anyway: WTF?  I started watching already sad to see the show go since it's one of my favorites, but by the time the credits rolled I was sad, very disappointed and rather angry. The writers and producers gave a terrific show bleak and mostly tragic closure when it should given it something more buoyant and "upward and onward."

Those of us who love "Medium" watched tonight as Allison mourned the loss of her husband for seven years. And then, just when all hope was gone, she discovered he somehow survived a horrible plane crash and washed up on a beach in Mexico...but wait, that turned out to be false hope because Allison was really just dreaming and Joe (her husband) woke up her (in a rather abrupt and coldly detached manner, I thought) to tell her he was, indeed, completely, without a doubt, "this is no dream" dead.

Those seven years never happened and it was actually just minutes after Joe died during his return flight from a business flight in Hawaii.

If you don't watch "Medium" this probably doesn't make much sense. Of course, I'm tired and in a bad mood, so I'm not sure I'm writing in a clear or direct manner anyway.

Maybe I should put it this way: tonight's finale should have been warm and fuzzy and left devoted viewers with the beloved and familiar image of what, for the past seven seasons, has been a mostly happy family doing family-like things in a way that is more like what a real family would do than a tv one. Modern film and tv is so bent on constantly having that dark edge on things that it seems like "warm and fuzzy" is somehow dirty and useless.

Yes, "Medium" has often had a dark side when it comes to its crimes and the people behind them, but the family itself? No.

I wanted warm and fuzzy. I wanted Allison and Joe and the girls to have another crazy morning of hurried breakfast and "who's driving the girls to school today?"...for there to be several more mornings like that in the Dubois family's future...for Joe and Allison to still have their healthy marital arguments...for Allison to wake Joe up because she had a bad dream.

Instead, though on a much, much less intense level, I felt the way I do when I wake from dreaming of a departed loved one's miraculous return: depleted and despondent that the bleaker version, not the pleasant one in my dreams, is the true version of what happened.

Phil Collins' newest album took me surprise when I listened to it earlier this evening. Not only is it one of his best albums in years, Going Back is one of the best albums of covers I've heard in quite some time. His  decision to remain completely faithful to the original arrangements (not changing anything) pays off well.

Sure, there are a couple of misses. "(Love is Like a) Heat Wave" should only ever be sung by Martha Reeves and the Vandellas (only!!!) and "Standing in the Shadows of Love" is just a tad weak vocally.

But the rest is Motown magic!! On "Jimmy Mack" Collins tweaks the cover by singing a plee to Jimmy to come back soon before he (Collins) takes Jimmy's girlfriend away; otherwise it's every bit as catchy and sweet as the original. Other stand-outs include the lovely "In My Lonely Room," "Do I Love You" and the powerful "Papa Was A Rolling Stone."

I've never been a big Phil Collins fan, but Going Back is inspiring me to give it repeat listens!! Great album for feeling good and feeding your nostalgic side!

I wonder sometimes why it's so so hard to find a good, solid sleep aid that works and works well...not one that does help you fall asleep only to have you wide awake a few hours later...or one that eventually kicks in, but not until you've first experienced some very weird symptoms, including (in some cases) auditory hallucinations.

I'm still searching for a good one and I wish I could say Excedrin PM is one of those. It's not. Different people have different reactions to the same medicine, of course, but as far as I can tell this just isn't one to recommend.

 I've used worse ones, for sure, but I prefer not to have nightmares while under a sleep aid's spell or fogginess when I wake up and both happened here the nights I used Excedrin PM.

So the search is still on...

Did you know on Amazon you can buy a pack of 24 Snickers Dark Chocolate for just $18.17*? I'm tempted to buy, if only 'cause it's so hard to find the bars in a lot of the grocery stores I frequent.  The difference between regular Snickers and Dark Chocolate (to me) is the difference between ground beef and sirloin steak...

Okay, maybe that analogy doesn't work (I'm really, really bad at analogies and don't eat red meat anymore.) But any lover of dark chocolate will tell you that the enjoyment you get from it puts milk chocolate to shame. (Maybe a better analogy would be the difference between boxed wine and bottled?)


(*Just probably isn't the right word since $18.17 sounds like a lot, but considering most candy bars are up to a dollar these days...)

Last night I listened to Madonna's Erotica for the first time in ages and I realized: this album is totally underrated compared to the Material Girl's other work. I remember that it wasn't all that well-received back in 1992, when she simultaneously released her Sex book and took on a whole new level of controversy in her career.

But as Erotica's gotten on in years, some critics have started re-evaluating it. When I went online to see what others think about the album these days, I found this awesome review (one of the best reviews for any album I've ever read):

click here  to read review

Say what you want about it...at its worst moments, Erotica's still something you can move your body to...even if, at times, it's about as sexy as a visit to the gynecologist. 

And speaking of underrated and Madonna...

Entertainment Weekly put out this list of what they consider the top ten most underrated Madonna songs....

definitely agree with this choice, in particular:

''More'' (I'm Breathless: Songs From and Inspired by the Film Dick Tracy, 1990)
''Nothing's better than more,'' Madonna sings, channeling her Breathless Mahoney character from Dick Tracy. And indeed, when it comes to the movie's soundtrack, nothing really is better than ''More.'' Just when you think Stephen Sondheim's rapid-fire wordplay is about to get away from her, Madonna pushes through, proving she's got a stronger instrument than a lot of critics would like to admit.