Hey Paula!

Great episode of Idol tonight.  Overall I enjoyed all the performances.  Adam never ceases to amaze me.  BORN TO BE WILD was wonderful.  This guy has vocal chords of steel!!

I also was so thrilled to see Kris Allen sing FALLING SLOWLY from one of my favorite movies of all time... ONCE!

I definitely think Paula does her homework after she sees the dress rehearsal to come up with quotes and phrases she wants to use.  Actually, I think she has a quote book and takes bits of overused phrases and puts them together to come up with a new phrase that has nothing to do with the situation.

Tonight she told Adam... he "dares to dance in the path of greatness," and that "fortune rewards the brave!"

Here's a great brief montage of Paula and Whitney Houston from their past shows on Bravo!

Taxman

Just finished doing my taxes!  Had to pay a lot of money... not cool.  At least it's done though.

Here's a brief clip of a lovely cover of the Beatles' hit TAXMAN by NICKEL CREEK!

You can download the song here.

If you haven't filed yet... hurry!!!!

The Gospel Truth

Hope everyone had a blessed Easter!  The picture above is one I took last Easter.  We were visiting NY and went to the CLOISTERS (which is a branch of the Metropolitan Museum of Art dedicated to the European Middle Ages.)  Of course Easter isn't just about Jesus on the cross, but rather the resurrection.  About life AFTER death.  I grew up in a small rural Lutheran Church.  I was a sunday school teacher/church organist while in high school.  At the front of the church on top of the altar was a statue of Jesus holding his hands out showing the nail marks.  Now that I'm older I really appreciate that image of Christ growing up.  Not of a man dying on the cross, but rather a savior saying "I'm back... and I'm HERE for you."

Which leads me to today's post...

I'd like to share with you an amazing book.

LAMB - THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO BIFF, CHRIST'S CHILDHOOD PAL by Christopher Moore

A friend first recommended this LAMB to me a few years ago.  I definitely had my doubts about the book at first.  As a Christian, I was afraid it was going to be sacrilegious.  It definitely is not.  If you have an open mind you will find that this book has a lot of heart.

LAMB tells the story of the missing years of the bible, Christ's teenage years.  The book is told through the eyes of Biff, (Christ's childhood friend) who was somehow left out of the bible.  

Once I started reading I was hooked.  The author has written a humorous "work of fiction." More importantly, I found the book very touching.  Joshua (Christ) is trying to figure out his purpose in life.  His friends Biff and Maggie (Mary of Magdala) are there to help him figure it out.  Biff is very rough around the edges.  Yet as Joshua's life on earth ends, Biff wants to protect his friend and doesn't want him to suffer.  I really feel that Christopher Moore captures the heart of Christ (except there may be a few curse words thrown in!)   We really see His human side... His love and compassion.

 

Here's one of my favorite passages where Biff talks about love after he and Joshua meet Maggie for the first time.

"I don't know if now, having lived and died the life of a man, I can write about little-boy love, but remembering it now, it seems the cleanest pain I've known.  Love without desire, or conditions, or limits- a pure and radiant glow in the heart that could make me giddy and sad and glorious all at once.  Where does it go?  Why, in all their experiments, did the Magi never try to capture that purity in a bottle?  Perhaps they couldn't.  Perhaps it is lost to us when we become sexual creatures, and no magic can bring it back.  Perhaps I conly remember it because I spent so long long trying to understand the love that Joshua felt for everyone. "

I'll be the proudest fella in the Easter Parade...

WONDERFUL MOVIE...

here's the title song...

EASTER PARADE originally paired Judy Garland with Gene Kelly.  However, Gene injured himself before shooting so Fred Astaire came out of retirement to appear in the picture.  (He would go in and out of retirement the next 10 years.)   He and Judy had wonderful chemistry as seen in the following clip....

Here's a very nice comedic moment for Judy.

Overall great movie featuring the wonderful song catalogue of IRVING BERLIN.  The film also features ANN MILLER and PETER LAWFORD. 

It takes a VILLAGE, people!

While doing research for an upcoming 70's show I found these 2 music videos of the VILLAGE PEOPLE.

This is classic stuff!

Check out a fun cover of Y.M.C.A here!

It's a Mad Mad Mad MAD WORLD

I was absolutely overwhelmed by Adam's performance of MAD WORLD on Idol this week.   Originally performed by Tears for Fears, I first heard the song by Gary Jules as a cover featured in the movie DONNIE DARKO.  His version became a number one hit in the UK in 2003. 

Here is the Gary Jules version.

Gary heard Adam's version as was very pleased.   He said that he was in the other room when the song came on.

"I ran out and I was like, `I knew he was gonna do it! I knew it!' " he recalls. "I've been waiting for years for somebody to do it. I thought David Cook was gonna do it last year for sure. ... As soon as I saw that guy Adam on `American Idol,' I was like, 'Oooh, this could be it.' "

Jules, 40, thinks Lambert put a signature spin on his cover-of-a-cover.

"It was fantastic," he says. "He has a beautiful voice. ... I heard his Michael Jackson cover and I heard some of his other stuff, and I think that he's probably one of the most — if not the most — interesting performer I've ever seen on `American Idol.'"

Personally, I loved everything about this performance.  The lyrics of the song speak of the feeling of alienation.  His performance reflected this beautifully.  The gorgeous lighting (which I have a feeling he had a say in) was the icing on the cake.  Adam is a true artist.

Here it is...

Here are the links to download the video performance and the studio version. 

...and if you haven't seen it, check out DONNIE DARKO.  The original theatrical version and a director's cut are both available on dvd, and both are on the same blu-ray disc.  The director's cut makes the plot more easy to understand, but I kind of like the ambiguity of the original.  On the original dvd there are some great deleted scenes that add richness to the plot, but I feel the newer version doesn't allow the viewers to make some decisions for themselves.  Either way, really great movie.  Amazing performances by Jake Gyllenhaal, his sister Maggie, and the wonderful Mary McDonnell as Donnie's mother. Definitely one of my favorite movies.  It's one of those films that will stick with you long after you see it.  There is also an amazing website to go along with the film.

Here is the trailer.

MIDLER on the roof!

The queen of inserting a singular musical number into her movies is The Divine Miss M.  

Yes, Bette Midler has been in movies where she plays a singer throughout... THE ROSE, BEACHES, and the masterpiece FOR THE BOYS (love it!!!)  What I'm talking about is where she does one number in the whole movie.

I previously talked about the wonderful I PUT A SPELL ON YOU from HOCUS POCUS.  Here are 2 other favorites.

This one is very similar to the Hocus Pocus trio.  Here she is with Diane Keaton and Goldie Hawn in THE FIRST WIVES CLUB.

This one is truly priceless from BIG BUSINESS!