louise on the left (coast)

i heart robert pattinson All courtesy of something awf ul ...

...The end of a very, merry unbirthday in the OC.

My very "first BF" (see note below), Americana Country Music Legend Jim Lauderdale , is currently in the running to win a Grammy tomorrow. (It also happens to be my birthday tomorrow, as well, so I'm feeling lucky for him and asking everyone to wish him happy-winning vibes, as well.) His album, "Could We Get Any Closer?" is nominated for Best Bluegrass Album in the 52nd Grammy Awards, and if he wins it will be his third. (Interestingly, he's up against Steve Martin, also nominated in the same category.) I just wanted to say that Jim's a terrific person, and one of the finest, most driven and talented musicians on the planet and nobody deserves more recognition for his consistently perfect contributions to the world of music than Lauderdale does. So we're rooting for him tomorrow and asking you to keep your fingers crossed for him, as well. Here's a link to his awesome Web site where you'll find information on his nominated album, "Cou...

I realize this dance video has been out there for ages, but I just saw it now.

The first time I saw Kubrick's gorgeous film, Barry Lyndon when I was an impressionable fourteen. And so it should not be too surprising to learn that it profoundly changed the way I thought about all film and theater. I had not realized how much music contributes to bringing something to life. In the case of this film, the music IS it's life. I can't imagine this film without it's soundtrack. The only other filmmaker who has this kind of understanding of how intwined the two mediums are is Martin Scorsese. However, seeing Kubrick's Barry Lyndon for the first time was also the moment I saw that something visual could be experienced also as classical music. So much so, that it could quite possibly, become upstaged by it's soundtrack. In any case, lately I have been thinking about film experiences that changed me, and I think this one film may have been contributed to my falling madly in love all things classical. (That, and all those Metropolitan Opera...

Dear daughters, The next time I'm elected a Republican senator I promise not to announce that both of you "are available" in my acceptance speech. Watch: The only silver-lining to having people this wacky in the public eye is that they usually just end up just shooting themselves in the foot before doing too much harm. So, I give this guy a year or two of driving Democrats nuts before we all discover he's got a mistress in Argentina or is spending way too much time in airport men's rooms. Or both. Nice speech, "Dad." I give him two years, max.