Delayed gratification and my Snow Patrol problem:)

These are two Snow Patrol albums I had not been aware of until recently (how I missed them is a mystery!!). And I'm trying so very hard (really, I am!) to be patient and not download them off iTunes onto my iPod Touch. I have to practice self-restraint and delayed gratification even though every single cell inside my body is yearning for them. I haven't been this big a follower of a band's music since the late 80s and very early 90s when I went to at least half a dozen Gloria Estefan and Miami Sound Machine concerts all within a three year period.

I guess the difference this time, though, is that I care a lot less about the people behind the product and more about the gorgeous music they make. I mean no offense to Gloria and her wonderful MSM, but looking back now I realize it was (for me) all about the show and (often, but not always) their lavish productions. Gloria is a very talented performer and emerged as a true survivor shortly after a devastating bus crash almost left her paralyzed, but her music doesn't speak to my heart the way Snow Patrol's does.

"Chasing Cars" (made so famous during the second season finale of Grey's Anatomy) "Cartwheels,"  "Just Say Yes" and "You Could Be Happy" are all songs that have this unbelievably deep and sincere emotional appeal.  For those who like their music happy and upbeat (something you can dance to) Snow Patrol probably is a no no...but for those nights when you feel just a little lonely and need to drown your sorrows just a little bit...

I read about The One AM Radio in the Washington Post on Friday and though I bought it because the writer compared the group to Snow Patrol (I don't hear it, but maybe it's just my ears) I have ended up liking the album (Heaven Is Attached By A Slender Thread) because it's a terrific album in its own right.


The One AM Radio has a soft, chill sound. The Washington Post succinctly puts it best when they refer to the music as having "sweet melodies and sour lyrics." The contradiction (almost adorably catchy grooves with a rather cynical take on love and life) is just amazing!!

The July 25th cover of The New Yorker (called "Wedding Season") is one that truly caught my eye and touched my heart...I only found out about it after reading this:


August 15, 2011

I wept when I saw Barry Blitt’s cover of two brides walking hand in hand across the Brooklyn Bridge (“Wedding Season,” July 25th). The image reminded me of my parents, who were closeted gay women in the nineteen-fifties. They were both teachers, and bravely raised me, their daughter, in our happy but very secretive household. Wedding vows were beyond their realm of possibility or even imagination, but these many years later I still have the intimately inscribed copies of Kahlil Gibran’s “The Prophet,” which they exchanged in lieu of vows.

Patricia Lambert

Santa Barbara, Calif.

Read more http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/letters/2011/08/15/110815mama_mail1#ixzz1VhJ4npit

Okay, maybe it's because I can't sleep and it's almost one in the morning, but I'm in one of those moods where I feel like I'm really hearing something for the first time even though I've known it for years.

"Kansas City" by Wilbert Harrison. Is it me or is it a really sexy song? Not so much the words (they're pretty unromantic) as the phrasing and the beats and the way the song is sung. I love it when someone sounds like they know exactly where they're going! :)

If you've never heard the song before or you haven't heard it in a while, give it a listen and let me know if it's just me:)

The part I really feel the whammy kick is when Harrison sings "Well, I might take a train. I might take a plane. But if I have to walk..."

Here are some more facts about the song:  read here

The most recent New Yorker (the August 15/22 issue) features an article by Dana Goodyear called "Grub: Eating Bugs To Save The Planet".

read abstract here

It offers up lots of interesting facts, but one of the most compelling (and a convincing argument for possibly consuming insects) is that lobster, shrimp and crabs are all far more disgusting eaters than insects. The former literally scrape the bottom of the barrel (or the ocean, in this case) while insects often feed on lettuce and flowers.

Goodyear references a fascinating 'pamphlet' from 1885, "Why Not Eat Insects?" by Victor M. Holt.

You can read it here!

I'm not saying I'm ready to start eating insects anytime soon (they all freak me out except for bees and butterflies) but the argument for doing so is unlike any I've seen before:)