Sometimes you just have to unwind, listen to some music, just BE. This week, the Chair is doing just that (and after you finish reading this, consider joining him).
Thankfully for the Chair (and us), during the whirlwind that is awards season, there is an anecdote. An over-the-top, overproduced, glitzy, rockstar affair — stuffed to the brim with so many production numbers, you almost forget awards are being given out (they still do that right?). Love it or hate it, it’s a glamorous distraction and who among us couldn’t use that right now?
The Chair has hand picked some of his favorite Grammy-nominated tunes — a truly eclectic mix of bops and classics (Spotify link here and below!). Here’s why he thinks you should tune in tonight and take a much needed break from our less glamorous reality:
Cardi B – “I Like It”
She makes me laugh. Hysterical, uncensored, smart, hard working and great rhymer. Check out her Carpool Karaoke with James Corden. It’s hilarious.
Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper – “Shallow” (from A Star is Born soundtrack)
Because, well… seriously?
Also don’t sleep on her last album’s title song, “Joanne” — heartbreaking and beautiful. Gaga just nails it.
I don’t find this annoying. Am I alone?
Janelle Monae – album: Dirty Computer
She embraces the raw, sweatiness of desire and gayness. Also, it’s just a great album.
YES JANELLE YES #pynk
Greta Van Fleet – “When the Curtain Falls”
Yes, I saw them on SNL. Kind of like if Robert Plant were a bit more Emo and from the midwest.. and I mean that in a good way
Led Zeppelin realness
Bettye Lavette – “Don’t Fall Apart On Me Tonight”
This is a wonderful rendition of an old Bob Dylan song. And the Obamas LOVE her… and that’s good enough for me #COMEBACK44
Remember when our President appreciated music.. and art… and enjoyed any aspect of life? REMEMBER? #OKImSpiraling #refocus
Joan Baez – “Whistle down the Wind”
The song is a cover of an old Tom Waits tune – and yes, she still does it for me. It’s her nine millionth album at age 77. I did a report on her in high school and my teacher accused me of being in love with her. Still am 40 years later.
Timeless
Sufjan Stevens – “Visions of Gideon” (from Call Me By Your Name soundtrack)
That final credit sequence! Elio! Oliver! Elio! Yep, still crying.
#ChalametwasRobbed
And here’s the Chair’s first official Spotify playlist. Listen along and tune in/tune out (your choice!)
Hillary Clinton made history this week when she became the first female nominee from one of the two major parties in the U.S. for president. Then several days later Sen. Elizabeth Warren became the darling of left, center and center-right wing sanity by giving a rousing takedown speech eviscerating Republican nominee Donald Trump as both a loud, nasty, thin-skinned fraud and a small, insecure, thin-skinned, wannabe tyrant.
Normally it’s not recommended to repeat adjectives like thin-skinned twice in alternating phrases but in this case it didn’t matter. Sen. Warren’s acumen at knowing just which buttons to push in The Republican Apprentice scored such public adoration that talk quickly grew that she was the leading contender for Hillary’s Veep spot (Note: One feels compelled to call her Hillary these days since that’s the catch phrase on her posters and how she signs all of her fundraising emails – at least to me).
We’re all ears
I, for one, was immediately thrilled at the possibility of two women on the ticket. I mean, how could they do any worse and what better way to get misogynist Trump’s goat, right? But looking across to my 87-year-old father, who I know has always loved Mrs. Clinton, as he calls her, and for just as long has always loathed that ass h-le Trump, as he refers to him, it occurred to me to ask –
Uh Dad, do you think having two women on the ticket matters to men in their 70s and 80s?
Silence. And then in one word he answered —
Yes.
When I told him it didn’t matter to me he quickly retorted that I wasn’t in my 70s or 80s. When I mentioned it didn’t matter to him he just shrugged it off. How I interpreted the latter was, at this point in life I don’t really know why some people are so small-minded and I really don’t care. Can’t we just watch the basketball game or at least Turner Classic Movies?
Indeed
I mean, how long do we have to endure the women discussion anyway? After watching news analysts of both genders questioning all day whether the nation could accept having a duo of females as our numbers 1 and 2, my mind began to drift to March 24, 2002. Do you know what day that was? I didn’t think you did. It was actually the evening that Halle Berry became the first African-American female to win best actress (Oscar, that is) and Denzel Washington became only the second African-American male in history to win best actor.
Yes, our TWO best American thespians that year were…Black! That hadn’t even happened before and that was 12 years ago. Not to mention we’ve actually had one Black # 1 in the White House for almost eight years since then. So given that more than another decade has gone by isn’t it about time two women were awarded both #1 and #2 in the same year?
The time is now
Never mind that this is the logic by which an illogical mind works. It still doesn’t make it any less true. And are we really going to have a serious discussion about this? Can’t we watch Turner Classic Movies? I’d even consider tuning into a basketball g…. Actually, on second thought – No.
Of course, no sooner did Hillary win and Sen. Warren lambaste Mr. Thin of Skin that the barrage of Trump insults started again. (Note: Remember, he’s a self-proclaimed counter puncher who always hits bad hard):
Crooked Hillary Clinton will be a disaster on jobs, the economy, trade, healthcare, the military, guns and just about all else. Obama plus!
By now anticipating such witty outrage, Sen. Warren’s staff actually bought the domain www.pocahontas.com that immediately redirects you to the Elizabeth Warren for Senate page. Among other things, it lists her personal blog and facts about the senator and where she stands on all of the major issues of the day.
(Note: For those still a bit confused, Pocahontas is the taunt this year’s Republican nominee proverbially hurls at the Senator, who he seems to be convinced is not, as she has claimed, part Native American. Though he never did try to pretend Pres. Obama wasn’t Black, Mr. Trump did first burst onto the contemporary political scene several years ago when he tried to claim our POTUS was not native born in the U.S,. as he and his birth certificate clearly state, and is therefore disqualified from being our #1 despite winning the office by many, many millions of votes. Twice).
A blast from the very recent past
However one feels about Sen. Warren, Mr. Trump or Pres. Obama isn’t it nice to be reading about the latest insult, punch back, scandal or near indictment that will ultimately never happen against Hillary – even if it’s just for a little bit? You’re welcome. But stay turned. This week the Drumpf-enator promises a national speech that will blow the lid off of how Hillary and Bill Clinton have made hundreds of millions of dollars selling access through the Clinton Foundation and how she, in particular, used the State Department as her own private hedge fund during her tenure as Secretary of State.
This leaves me just about enough time to learn the rules of basketball. Which I’ll begin right after my five month marathon watching Turner Classic Movies in every spare waking moment that I have. What are your plans? And please don’t be insulted that I asked.
notes from a chair 