-- 'It came together from watching a lot of The O.C. and Laguna Beach,' Messe says with a laugh. 'My wife is a fan of those shows, and I would watch them with her. Every time I would watch those shows, I felt like after the show was over, I would feel a little less satisfied with my life. I would feel my world was more black and white, and I would feel poor and fat. I wanted to reject that,' he continues. 'I feel we're incredibly lucky both as a band and as people, and yet we're still able to fall prey to the way the media romanticizes certain wealth and privilege. For me, it had a way of making me feel bad about my life. The line 'And I'm the one who wants to be with you tonight...,' I'm talking about my wife and my life. That soft-focused consumerism shown on those shows maybe isn't the most healthy thing to aspire to when real life can be pretty sweet and magical.'"
While stuck in bed earlier this month recovering from the flu, my husband surprised me by coming in and handing me a copy of The Road, by Cormac McCarthy. "This is a perfect time to read this" he said. Now, don't ask me why anyone would hand someone they love a story about the end of the world. Especially someone coughing up a lung from H1N1, but, what can I say? That's just one of the bizarre little quirks which passes for true love around here. Quite reluctantly I began reading this, quite sure that given the bleak nature of the story combined with our entire family getting Swine Flu, was simply going to ensure this book ended up in the literary graveyard that is my side of my bed until a sunnier day. However, much to my surprise, I immediately fell under the spell of The Road. It was quite simply, impossible to put down, whether or not I was feverish and coughing. My husband knows me so well. So, now that I'm almost done with the novel, I find I'm p...
Recently I was fortunate enough to attend opening night of Adam Gwon ’s new musical “ Ordinary Days ,” currently enjoying its West Coast premiere at South Coast Rep in the Julianne Argyros Stage through January 24 I went with my theater buddy (and blogging guru) Prince Gomolvilas of Bamboo Nation without either of us really knowing too much about the show to start with other than it was a “Chamber Musical” (whatever that meant) about “people from New York.” I was curious how a story about New Yorkers struggling to bring meaning to their lives against a backdrop of the usual pathos and passion in the city that never sleeps could actually be something new, something that we haven’t heard before. Not only has this tale already been examined in other musicals, such as in "Rent" or "Company," I also spent my twenties in Manhattan, and felt pretty confident that this might be a theme I was all too familiar with by now. I was a bit concerned that telling this same story ...
Still in a quandry about what to spend your summer bucks on at the movie theater? Well, truthfully, I can't claim to have seen remotely everything out there this summer, but I will cite one or two highlights of mine. The short review: Great: Exit Through The Gift Shop & Cyrus. Good: Toy Story 3 Ho Hum: T he Kids Are All Right. First of all: I have to say, I loved Cyrus . Funny, touching, quirky and very human love story, in the odd ball way that real life is, which I appreciate. So many great uncomfortable moments that totally hooked me in. Still cracking up from John C. Reilly's line "What are you doing with Shrek in the forest." Loved this film. I have to say, I did not really love the other "big relationship flick" of the summer, " The Kids Are All Right ..." Which, while sort-of interesting, kind-of, was actually kind of...bla. and while it was entirely well acted seemed like a non-story. Like Silverlake mee...
