I Don't Like Mondays

Monday is my least favorite day of the week. I get sick on Sunday nights, thinking about having to go to work on Monday morning. I thought that this hatred of Mondays would dissipate once I was "working from home" a/k/a NOT WORKING, but it is almost MORE pathetic to be sitting around on Monday afternoon, after sleeping until noon realizing that everyone is at work and all that I have planned is an hour in front of the TV watcing All My Children. With all of this free time that I've been having, you'd think I'd be a blogging machine, but frankly I can't really bring myself to sit in front of the computer when I haven't done anything worth writing about.

Therefore, I bring you my Top 10 Things I've Learned While "Being On Vacation"/"Being Unemployed:

10) Laurel Canyon, one of my favorite movies, is like porn for women. It has been on cable like every day for two weeks and watching it repeatedly has really proven my point. I mean, it is about a middle aged woman who, in real life, wouldn't be able to get a date because every man her age would be dating someone 25, but in the movie she has a sexy 20-something rocker boyfriend who thinks that she is super hot. All they do is smoke dope, drink whiskey sours, and skinny dip in her gorgeous pool. Plus she has a kick-ass job as a music producer and her hot, young boyfriend is dying to commit to her. It's just as realistic as those ugly, mustacheod dudes in porn who manage to get the hottest, most wet-lipped women in bed make them scream with really unsexy moves. But I like to believe Laurel Canyon's fantasy. What girl doesn't want to grow up and be Francis McDormand in it?
9) I'm not the only person in cyberspace obsessed with Paul Lynde.
8) The Arcade Fire album never gets tired. I've been listening to it on repeat since I've been "unbusy" and it still sounds new and exciting to me and "Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels)" is just about one of my favorite songs of the year.
7) Sometimes...just sometimes, the Grammys get things right! Now, I must admit up front that I only pay attention to the pop, rock, and alternative nominations because I couldn't really give a shit about Usher and all of his R&B nominations (cuz frankly the thing that made "Yeah" such a kick ass song is the Lil Jon crunk beat and the Ludacris rap. Any jackass could have sung the chorus). But I was so pleased for the Killers (with their 3 nominations!) and Ryan Adams (as previously stated, I lurve his cover of Wonderwall) and Franz Ferdinand and Modest Mouse. They actually made some good choices this year.
6) Blender also made some good choices in their best album and best song lists from their December issue. All of my favorites are represented like the Thermals and Bright Eyes and Rilo Kiley (as well as the Killers and Franz) plus they said that Kanye West's album was the best of the year. And it was, if you exclude that shitty Jesus song.
5) Lindsay Lohan is not a good enough actress to NOT look bored when doing press for her new "album." I use that title loosely because the word album connotes a collection of songs not a dismal piece of trash made using a lethal mixture of Pro-tools, lazy Swedish songwriters ("Rumors," anyone?), and cocaine (which, I hear Linds has sadly lost along with her license and AM/EX). She was on TRL twice in the span of a week and everytime she wasn't actually reading off of a cue card, she was looking bored or scowling. Ditto for her appearance on SNL. She can sparkle when she has a line to say but she CANNOT look remotely happy or not petulant when she's just sitting there.
4) I will go to Coachella this year. Internet rumors abound about the lineup
(Including David Bowie,The Faint, Franz Ferdinand, TV on the Radio, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Dogs Die In Hot Cars, Wilco, Modest Mouse, Bright Eyes,The Postal Service, Rilo Kiley, The Arcade Fire) and if they are remotely right I could ignore my hatred of California and all things hot or camping-related and go. Jenny Lewis already confirmed that Rilo is definitely playing. Who's with me?
3) Queen are awesome. I know that I noted earlier that they were the best performers at Live Aid (um, is it sad that I've watched the four disk set like 3 times already--when I get obsessed, I get obsessed), but have you heard the Electric Six cover of Radio Ga Ga yet? Yes, it's Queen's silliest song but the cover is pretty good and the video is worth watching, if for no other reason than to watch the clapping poodles. Don't ask, just go watch it!
2) Though I have often bemoaned the double denim look, I've decided that there is nothing sexier than an Irish man in a denim work shirt, jeans, and a jean jacket. Or maybe that is just because I love Bob Geldof and I've watched too much Live Aid.
1) French pop music from the '60s totally doesn't get the respect it's due. I've been listening to Francoise Hardy for a couple of months now and she is just great--like a French Nico (who can actually sing!). Some of her songs are even in English. People like the Ye-Ye girls (like Sylvie Vartan) and Johnny Halliday are jokes here in the States but they made some really great pop music. I got into Francoise Hardy because my middle/high school French teacher used to play her song "Tout Les Garcons et Les Filles De Mon Age" for us and we learned all of the lyrics. I always thought it was a school song--like Frere Jaques--and didn't realize it was a pop song until a couple of years ago. It might just be one of my favorite songs of all time, and not just because of its simple '60s sound. It's lyrics (if you speak French) are some of the saddest, most tellingly-adolescent lyrics about how all of your friends are paired up and you are alone. Maybe I'll post them later for those Francophiles out there.

Now, before I go, I'd like to direct your attention to this website where you can watch the video for Band Aid 20. I liked to watch it because you've got faux-Brit Madonna, Bob Geldof in his Frankie Says Relax-like "Feed the World" t-shirt (don't care though, he is still sexy and smart as shit!), too-cool-for-school Bono in an isolation booth, and you'll get to see who's singing each part (because just going on the audio, I had no freakin idea!). Plus, who knew that Paul McCartney was there playing guitar? So thanks to Achtung Baby! for the link!! It is all for a good cause, so it isn't very cool to mock it, but I must say that Dizzee Rascal's part really throws me off (even when I hear the original, I'm waiting for his muffled rhymes now!) and that watching this video made me really miss Paul Young!

There won't be snow in Africa this Christmastime

I hope everyone enjoyed their respective Thanksgivings. As anyone who knows me knows, it is just about my favorite holiday (well, besides Halloween--cuz, to reiterate, I used to be a drama nerd so I dig costumes the most!). The blog has been sadly neglected because I was enjoying the holiday with my family and since I've been back I've been really busy with my new interim career as a freelancer. But now that I've actually sat down at the computer without a busy work agenda, it's important to get back to the work at hand....

So, last week the Killers were on TV twice. Once, on the OC, where the looked cute and sounded great and once, on Conan where they wore matching suits and looked like bible salesmen. I mean, Brandon has never been so Mormon-y to me. It was creepy. And they sounded so disinterested and, frankly, really really tired. I have always been a firm supporter of the Killers kick-ass live show (despite what so many of the snarky reviews--like the one that appeared the Voice--have to say), but on Conan they looked just bored of the song and exhausted. And the matching suits and Brandon's haircut did NOT help their case.

And, a note to Mr. Flowers....I have forsaken you for a new boyfriend (and it's not just cuz I found out you are a Mormon!). Now my new boyfriend is a little older (in fact, he recently pushed Elvis Costello down a notch to #2 on the men over 50 I'd have sex with list), but he is also a "sir" and he was once rumored to be interested in being Ireland's next president. It's Bob Geldof. Now, I know what you are thinking. Dude, Geldof hasn't had a hit song since practically the year of my birth. But over Thanksgiving I got a copy of the Live Aid DVD and I have developed a serious crush (evidenced by the fact that his1985 Rolling Stone cover is now my computer wallpaper because, clearly, I am a huge nerd!). I mean he is a passionate advocate for African debt relief and father's rights and he wrote "I Don't Like Mondays!" For some reason, when Bono campaigns for political stuff it only fuels my hatred of him and convinces me that he has some weird Christ complex, but when Bob does it, it seems so sincere that I literally had goosebumps all weekend as I've made my way through the 4 DVDs.

Maybe it has something to do with my memories of the event of Live Aid--it is really one of my earliest visual music memories. I'm pretty sure that I saw Madonna singing "Like a Virgin" at the VMAs the previous fall, but I can't be sure if that is a memory or if I've just seen it replayed on VH1 nostaglia shows so much that I'm familiar with the performance. But I TOTALLY remember her performance on Live Aid, since I was so proud that the US leg of the show was being performed in my home town. It was the first (and maybe only) time I ever felt proud to live in Philly and thought it was a cool place where stuff HAPPENED. I was at my parent's friend's pool watching from outside and I came running inside to watch Madge (whom I LOVED, even though I was only 8--I distinctly remember performing "Like a Virgin" for my parents at their friend's pool and having my mom ask me if I knew what a virgin was and getting embarassed because I didn't. But I said, "Yeah!" and ran away.). I also remember seeing Duran Duran and I must've caught Queen because my dad was obsessed with them. (Speaking of which, while watching the DVDs this weekend, I think I've decided that Freddie Mercury was the best frontman of all time. Eat your heart out, Mick Jagger!) Anyway, Bob Geldof was really really cute, with his scruffy, almost-mullet, singing "I Don't Like Mondays," but I truly fell in love with him during the "Do You Know Its Christmas?" finale of the London show. He was trying to involve everyone and he looked so happy and proud and moved. I actually got tears in my eyes (I warned you, I'm a huge nerd).

Anyway, see for yourself. Get the Live Aid DVD. It is seriously awesome. I mean, yes, some people sound off-key and some bands play some songs I've literally never heard of before. And, yes, you might rather save your 30 bucks for a DVD that doesn't include Hall and Oates (although Beth is totally in love with Oates--so that is reason enough for her to watch!) or Paul Young. But c'mon people! Not only does your money go to a good cause, and not only will you get to see a lot of my new boyfriend, but you get to see some amazing celebrity moments: Charles and Di enter Wembeley together looking utterly miserable and not touching (how did we not know?!), George Michael duetting with a still druggy and fat and married-to-a-woman Elton John (how did we not know...about either of them?), Rob Halford in an amazing leather daddy outfit in the unbearable Philly heat (again...how did we not know?), and Madonna practicing the lost art of singing live while dancing (you won't see ANY of that in this millennium). Plus, it comes with the videos for "Do they Know its Christmas?" and "We are the World." And if the sight of Kenny Rogers duetting a line with Paul Simon doesn't get you somewhere in your nostalgic heart, then, I'm sorry, you might be legally dead.