"Every Simpsons Ever" (the FXX marathon that began on August 21st and runs through September 1st) feels like a Christmas present for an insomniac with a soft spot for Lisa Simpson and her family. There's not enough room on anyone's DVR to cover all 522 episodes, but during those times you can't sleep or you to need to smile, it's there for you! :)

One of my very favorite episodes of Fringe is called "6B," named after an apartment from the plot, where enduring love (and a perfectly understandable inability to let go of it) is the source of all things strange within the entire building. 

This is what Peter says when he is trying to encourage Alice (a devoted widow who has been able to see who she thinks is her dead husband in a parallel universe) to go:

"I know, I know, but you've already had what most of us only dream of... a lifetime with the person you love. Look around you, your entire house is filled with mementos -- photographs, ticket stubs, evidence of a life shared with somebody. Proof that what you and Derek had was true and real. And I know that when you have something so real, you'll do anything to keep from losing it. But please, you have to let him go."

It is indeed (I imagine) what a lot of us only dream of...and never find. Still, I do find happiness is seeing others find it. Maybe that's why I like the "Weddings & Celebrations" section of the New York Times so much:

http://www.nytimes.com/pages/fashion/weddings/index.html?module=SectionsNav&action=click&version=BrowseTree&region=TopBar&contentCollection=Fashion%20%26%20Style%2FWeddings&contentPlacement=2&pgtype=Homepage

For more about the Fringe episode, read here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/6B_(Fringe)

I love that in this particular episode the symbols*, that always appear on the screen before commercial breaks, spell out "hearts."


*a leaf, a frog, a woman's profile, a handprint are some:


http://fringepedia.net/wiki/Glyphs_code

The frogs are all in sync outside my window. I think they're trying to sing, but I'm not really sure...it's kind of a soothing sound, whatever they're doing. Speaking of soothing, two nice songs to close out the night are "When Will I See You Again" by The Three Degrees and "Charlotte Anne" by Julian Cope.

Here's to a smooth start to the week! :)

E is for empowerment

I'm listening to Eurythmics' Ultimate Collection to get ready for Monday, because if anyone can help you with that it's probably vocal powerhouse Annie Lennox. So much of their material still sounds so oddly original and fresh.

 

Whenever I want to know the story behind my favorite music I go to Songfacts, which not only can help you with the interpretation of the lyrics but give you great background.

 

"Missionary Man" is not my favorite of Eurythmics singles, but I've always been fascinated by it so I went online to see if Songfacts covers it:

 

The lyrics for this song came from a poem that Annie Lennox had written. Musically, her bandmate Dave Stewart wanted to create a song that would play well in an arena setting, as he was inspired by the concert films Under A Blood Red Sky by U2 and Stop Making Sense by Talking Heads. British synthesizer bands weren't crossing over to big arena shows, and Stewart wanted to buck the trend. He wrote in The Dave Stewart Songbook: "Missionary Man opened the album and became a lynchpin song on the Revenge tour. I wanted to create a spiritual feeling at the opening of the song. I felt like an alchemist cooking up a weird brew of Blues, Rock and Voodoo, with a strange mixture of guitars, synthesizers, backwards noises, and harmonica that spiraled toward the opening line, 'Well I was born an original sinner.' This was the perfect way to take our shows to another level."

 

You can also read what other people think of the song. And sometimes there's just miscellaneous 'I never knew that!' tidbits of stuff. I found the link to "Would I Lie To You?" (my favorite of theirs after "Here Comes The Rain") just as intriguing:

 

http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=12841

Sunday odds and ends..."When you talk about food, people's faces light up."

 

My favorite part of Sunday is catching up with the newspapers and scouring them for good things, especially book reviews and more upbeat, less sad news stories.

This article in August 23rd's Wall Street Journal is so intriguing:

Dining From Trash to Table in Brooklyn
by Larissa Zimberoff

Salvage Supperclubs Meals Are Served Inside a Scrubbed-Down Dumpster

Bruised apples, floppy herbs and moldy grapes might not be considered acceptable ingredients for most home cooks. But a Manhattan man is hoping to change New Yorker's outlook on food freshness—one dinner party at a time.

 

Josh Treuhaft, a recent graduate of the design for social innovation master's program at the School of Visual Arts, has hosted seven Salvage Supperclubs, where he served past-prime food to diners inside a scrubbed down dumpster.

 

In all, the dinner rescued 1.8 pounds of food per person that was otherwise destined for the landfill. Culled from farms, farmers markets, restaurants and home kitchens, the waste was still perfectly safe and nutritious, Mr. Treuhaft said—the chef just needed to be creative in its handling...

You can read the rest here:

http://online.wsj.com/articles/dining-from-trash-to-table-in-brooklyn-1408756306



One of my favorite new albums: Yes, It's True. It is so upbeat ("You Don't Know Me" will have you dancing on the couch!) and has a great late 1960s vibe to it:

 

 

 

And thanks to an article in today's New York Times, I was able to discover Medici.tv, which streams classical music and opera performances, many times for free.

 

(for instance: http://www.medici.tv/#!/maria-callas-in-paris )

 

The NYT piece is a great resource and this part especially jumped out, where the author discusses iTunes and listening to opera:

 

...But something seemed to go awry in recent years. Maybe it was just me, or my not-quite-state-of-the-art equipment, but the early versions of iTunes — while great for storing and sorting singles — made me want to tear my hair out when it came to classical music. Forget the long-gone librettos and liner notes of yore: My iTunes sometimes had a hard time figuring out that Act II of an opera should follow Act I. Trying to teach it to sort music by, say, composer could become a daunting task requiring National Security Agency-level coding skills.

 

 For more go here:

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/24/arts/music/an-opera-lover-tests-streaming-services.html