"...I sacrificed to make you happy, kept nothing for myself..."

"...Now you want to leave me for the love of someone else. My pride is all gone; whether I'm right or wrong. I need you baby, girl, to keep on keepin' on. And you know I tried to do my best, you know I tried to do my best - don't do it. Don't you break my heart. Please, don't do it, don't you break my heart."

I know that he's been sick for some time, but it still came as a serious blow yesterday to hear that Levon Helm, one of our greatest music treasures, is in the final stages of his battle with throat cancer.

My love of The Band, and particularly my love of Levon Helm, has been a part of my DNA since my 1970s childhood. Music From Big Pink, Northern Lights-Southern Cross, and The Last Waltz were played and sung constantly in my house by my mother and her friends. The music of The Band also had a huge impact on my college years at the University of Miami. Shared love of this music and these men shaped and cemented life-long close friendships with people that I love and treasure more decades later.

Levon Helm is an amazing drummer; but it's his voice, especially on songs like "The Night They Drove Ol' Dixie Down" and "Don't Do It", that has always touched my soul. 

I don't know what I'm going to do when the inevitable happens. But you can bet that it's going to involve me pouring a beer and singing "Acadian Driftwood" at the top of my lungs.

HOW CAN I CHOOSE? Battle of the early 80s Cross-dressing Divas Edition

I have a VERY serious decision to make. Tonight, two of my all-time favorite films are each playing on the big screen. I cannot attend both screenings because I have yet to figure out the meta-physics of being able to be in two places at once.
The movies in question are 1983's Yentl, starring Barbra Streisand, and Victor/Victoria from 1982 starring Julie Andrews. I can't express how difficult a choice this is for me. Please help!

Here are the details:

In the Blue corner -

Yentl at the Central Cinema

Start time = 7pm

• Pro - Central is a drink and dine venue so I can enjoy a nice glass of cab sav and a green salad while singing along with Babs and staring lustily at Mandy Patinkin and his jew-fro and awesome facial hair.
• Another thing in this venue's favor is that it's only about a mile away from my house, so it's very convenient to get home if I've had too many glasses of wine.
• Another pro - they sell these pigs in a blanket (turkey or tofu pups also available) that are awesome. They also make incredible fresh popcorn with real butter.
• A potential con - unlike a lot of the Central Cinema screenings, I don't believe this one is a "sing-a-long"; so I may be ridiculed for belting out "The Way He Makes Me Feel" along with Barbra.

The music in Yentl is some of my favorite stuff to listen to, and especially sing along with. 13 yr old me could be found with her cassette tape of the soundtrack always in her Walkman. Yes, I was that dork. And for realz y'all, I had a HUGE crush on Mandy Patinkin. I had seen him on Broadway in Evita! a few years before and this movie, plus another Broadway experience (Sunday In The Park With George) pretty much cemented my love.

In the Red corner -

Victor/Victoria at the SIFF-Uptown

Start time = 8:45 PM

• Pro - This SIFF venue is next door to my friends John and Dan's house. So while the theater doesn't serve alcohol or non-traditional movie snacks, I can always eat and drink to my heart's content at their place and then stumble to the theater.
• I don't think I'll be any more welcome to sing out loud along with the movie here than I would be at Central Cinema.

This movie is a definitive period of childhood for me because it reminds me so much of my mother and grandmother. The three of us saw it in the theater together at the Uptown in Washington, D.C. back when they would sell soundtrack LPs and cassettes right in the lobby after the movie. I remember my mother buying the record and then a few weeks later my grandmother bought the sheet music to the songs and the three of us would spend many a weekend singing and performing the music from the movie. Years later, when they turned it into a Broadway show, a few years after my grandmother had passed away, my mom and I went to NYC to see it and we cried in the audience the whole time thinking about how much my grandmother would have enjoyed seeing Julie Andrews live.

Similarities between the two films:

• They both involve women pretending to be men in order to pursue/fulfill their dreams.
• I know every song from each movie by heart and can sing them on command, any time, any place, if asked. (and I'm in the mood)
• It's a battle royale between two of my favorite divas. Barbra vs. Julie!!! Mary Poppins vs. Fanny Brice! Maria Von Trapp vs. Esther Hoffman!

So? What should I do? WHO WILL WIN?!

Anatomy of a music video - Bee Gees Edition Volumes 1 and 2

The music videos made in the late 1970s for two of the hits by the Bee Gees off of the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack are a study in contrasts.
Let's examine the contrasts between the videos for "How Deep Is Your Love" and "Staying Alive".

We'll start with "Staying Alive" -

• I dare you to pull your eyes away from the moose knuckle that Barry Gibb is sporting in those TIGHT white pants of his. You can't do it can you? His junk is mesmerizing.
• Umm, where was this filmed? The words on the old train car looks like it says Cork? But would there really have been an area in that part of England that was that run-down and abandoned looking?
• Can we just all agree that Barry Gibb had fucking fabulous hair? Feathered, bouncin' and behavin' perfection.
• Maurice and Robin on the other hand...no. Those twins definitely got the raw end of that deal.
• Actually Maurice had a nice face, and his beard is neat and trimmed here, unlike some people, Barry.
• When I was 11 my two friends and I would imitate the moves the Gibbs make when they pop into the open window and door frames during the "ah ha ah ha stayling alive" part.
• What is with Barry's silver jacket? And does he really need a gold necklace and a larger chain with a medalion? Or his cuban-heeled ankle boots? He's a tall dude. All this is still not enough to distract me from looking at his crotch.
• I think my dad had the same shirt as the one Maurice is wearing.
• Seriously, where was this filmed? Were there still war-torn parts of Eastern Europe in the 70s? What is with all of the empty and destroyed houses?

Now comparatively the video for "How Deep Is Your Love" is on a whole other level. And it's not necessarily a better one.

• The budget was considerably lower for this one obviously. They're on some studio soundstage with random lights set up and the camera is following the Gibb brothers as they alternately walk around in a circle, or stand in a circle as the camera pans around them.
• Seriously, more than half of the video is them WALKING AROUND IN A CIRCLE. They could've filmed this in my garage.
• And who are those random handful of faceless people standing around in the center of the circle? Party guests? Electricians and best boys that work at the studio who didn't realize they were in the shot?
• Robin Gibb really is unfortunate looking, isn't he.
• Barry on the other hand is looking his most fantastic. His hair was never more lustrous and his beard is neat this time around. Also, while I'm sure he's wearing the tightest possible trousers, the camera never pans down past his mid chest until the end of the video, and then it's only his butt that we see  so we're not nearly as distracted.
• BTdubs, check out the top of the comment thread from the link above for a gem from some dude named serq199113. I admire his sentiment.

Revamped Law & Order: Los Angeles

Sometimes I feel like I'm the only person who watches the latest sprouting from Dick Wolf's Law & Order franchise machine - L&O: Los Angeles or "LOLA" as NBC is trying to brand it.

I started watching it because Alfred Molina and my boyfriend Skeet Ulrich were going to be on it, and because I was mourning the loss of original recipe L&O. I stayed for new boyfriend Corey Stoll and his character, Detective TJ Jaruszalski's magnificent moustache, and the LA-centric storylines.

Sure, the new show had it's problems, like the somewhat bloated cast on the DA side of things, Terrence Howard and his scenery chewing, and the sometimes silly "Hollyweird" stuff, but in general I really liked what they'd come up with. And did I mention the hotness of Corey Stoll and his moustache? Sigh.

So then came the news a couple of months ago when the show went on hiatus that when it returned in April 2011, it would have a new streamlined cast and more focused storylines. And then the commercials for last night's return started running on NBC a few weeks ago and they hinted that Skeet Ulrich's character, Detective Rex Winters was going to be killed. What?! I was totally unhappy with this development. So far I haven't found any interview with Skeet to hear what happened from his side, but I saw an E! interview with Terrence Howard where they asked him about the cast shake-up and he basically said that he missed Skeet and the others that weren't there anymore but that he was just happy to still have a job (hinting at his firing from Iron Man 2 I guess?).

Anyway, last night's return episode(s) was 2 hours of pretty riveting television. Skeet was killed off fairly early on in the first ep and the rest of the hour was spent trying to prosecute his killer. It ended with the guy getting away with it - something that I've always LOVED about L&O - they don't make everything a happy ending. Oftentimes cases just kind of fall apart and the bad guys often win. Just like real life. It's strangely satisfying.

The second hour had Alfred Molina's DA Morales so fed up with the politics and corruption of the Prosecutor's and State government offices that he decides to go back to being a cop, and guess what? He pulls strings to be Jaruszalski's new partner.

As far-fetched as this plot twist is, Stoll and Molina actually have great chemistry. So I'm excited about how the Jaruszalski/Morales partnership plays out. But GAWDDAMMIT!!! Corey Stoll shaved off the moustache! Unforgiveable!

The other change that we see in the second hour is that Assistant D.A. Connie Rubirosa from L&O: Original Recipe is now Deputy D.A. and working with Howard's DA character Joe Decker, after having moved out west to be with her sick mother. Junior D.D.A.s Evelyn Price and Lauren Stanton (Regina Hall and Megan Boone) are out. I'm totally onboard for this change. I like Alana De La Garza as an actress way more than Hall and Boone, and now just having 2 people on the DA side to focus on is so much better for the show, even if one of those people is fawking Terrence Howard.

But Corey baby, please grow the 'stache back! Smooches! xoxo