Norse Myth, Nazis, and Scientology

On the plane over to Thailand recently, I watched Valkyrie (film, 2008).

First, "valkyrie" was a vaguely familiar word, so I looked it up. Norse mythology depicted warrior-angel-like women who gathered the souls of the worthy fallen, took them to heaven, and served them. This is the origin of the word.

The movie, based on a true story, is about a Nazi plot to assassinate Hilter in 1944. "Valkyrie" was the code name for the operation. It highlights sincere anti-Hitler sentiment during WWII German, which is often neglected in modern portrayals focusing on the holocaust.

Tom Cruise played the lead, a Colonel von Stauffenburg. Cruise's Scientology involvement created strong opposition to the film in Germany, where Scientology is considered a dangerous cult.

Overall, I thought the film was good. Having my own scale, I'd rate it around a 4 out off 5. This means it's definitely worth watching. It made me stop and think, put me in a reflective mood, but was ultimately not much different from other such movies. I'll probably never see it again and will forget it within a few weeks. I particularly liked the conclusion: you knew where it was headed, but the artistry with which they portrayed it was compelling.

Top of the Week: Beyonce

Beyonce is an R&B singer from Houston. She became known first as a member of Destiny's Child, the best selling girl group ever. They were created in 1990 (when they were all pre-teen), took the name Destiny's Child in 1993, signed with Columbia Records in '97, and hit it big in the late 90's.

Beyonce started working solo, releasing her first album, Dangerously in Love, in 2003. She became successful and has released 3 albums. The most recent album, 2008's I am ... Sasha Fierce, includes 6 single hits (so far).

Today's song is "Halo", which reached Billboard's #5 and has stayed on the charts for 18 weeks. This song's success also makes her the top female artist of the decade, with 12 top 10 hits so far.

Re-Activating... Now.

Man, I've realized how effective this blog was! In the past month of silence, I've been surprised at how often I finally got a pop culture reference (Yoko Ono), or was able to answer a question (Lady Gaga), all because of the research I did for this blog.

So, I'm trying it out again for another month. And this time, I'm going to share the info I research. So, together we'll find out history, statistics, and interesting facts about artists, songs, movies, and whatever else pops up.

Whether you're interested or not, I'm doing it for me!

Out of Service

My apologies for vanishing to anyone who might be reading.

I threw out my back the same weekend I intended to move; this blog was ignored. I'm up and about, but preparing to move abroad for awhile...

So, this blog is out of service until further notice. Hopefully, I'll be able to resume postings in June.

See you then!

Twilight

Confession: I'm reading the Twilight series.

Several friends have recommended it, much like Harry Potter in the early days. I've got free time, so I finished the first two books in 3 days. Scarily - that's not unusual for me. Which means, finishing them so fast doesn't mean I especially like them.

My thoughts on the first book: Meyer spends far too much time developing a relationship, then crams an action story into the latter half of the book. She's dealing with two genres, attempting to integrate them, but succeeding only in a flimsy segue between them. On the other hand, Twilight reads easily, mastering the art of cliff-hanging and driving the novel through plot. Overall, easy to understand the popularity, but far from lasting literature.

On a personal note - this is a lot of vampire for me (along with Buffy). Kind of getting tired of it; need a break. But I will have to see the movie for a comparison:

Celeb Sighting: Bruce Willis

Leaving a popular local cafe recently, I held the door for Bruce Willis.

The most remarkable part? That I recognized him!

A few basic facts I picked up about him:

1. Die Hard (1988) was his first major success
2. Married to Demi Moore for 13 yrs, has 3 kids
3. New wife is Emma Heming (March, 2009)
4. Owns Planet Hollywood, along with our dear governator.

Oh, and he sings!

Britian's Got Talent

A friend finally clued me in to the Susan Boyle phenomena. As usual with YouTube, I ended up exploring the "Britain's Got Talent" clips. I found it fascinating.

It seems like many of the acts followed Susan's "key" to success: They want the crowd to underestimate them. I saw it in a couple of other acts and it got old real fast.

Some of the other acts were just bizarre. Seriously, why does a man do a handstand on knives and pretend to slip and cut his own throat? I mean, it was impressive, but why do it?

Anyway, today's clip is a group I thought was pretty awesome. Judge for yourself:

Britain's Got Talent "Diversity"

Top of the Week: Songs stuck in my Head

I never used to understand how people could not know the words to a song - either you know it or you don't. But since I've been learning a song a day, I can't actually learn all the words. It's just the chorus running in circles in my head. It's so annoying to have a chorus in my head and no verses!

Also, I'm noticing a trend here. It's the pop songs that get stuck: "Sexy Back" and "Poker Face" especially, also "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For". They're the songs that hammer one line into into your head, until it pierces deep in your brain and is triggered by every little synapse.

But it's only one sentence! So then I need to hear the rest of the song, I desperately seek out the song, and listen with the relief of an addict overdue for a dose.

Here's another catchy one....
Flo Rida's Right Round

A Little Neurology

Listening to NPR, there was a neuro-musicologist or musico-neurologist or musically neurotic ologist or something. Whatever he was, he wrote some book on the brain and music.

One caller said she has lyme disease, which affects the brain. Since developing it three years before, she can't stand music. She used to love music and be really into it. But now, she said it annoys her and she wants it turned off. She still recognizes the songs and music, but has no emotional connection / reaction.

That perfectly discribes me! Not that I think I have lyme disease... but the expert whatever said that there is a certain part of the brain that "appreciates" music. I guess this is different from the part that "recognizes" it or even "hears" it. Anyway, I'm just gonna guess that part of my brain isn't so well developed...

So, today's music is....
Mozart's Symphony 40



I chose this because Mozart is associated with improved neural development.

I Tried... Once

Kevin was shocked to her me listening to 3 Doors Down in my car. He thought I'd consider that too noisy. Truth is, the last time I tried to discover music (about 10 yrs ago), I found a few bands I liked:

• Vertical Horizon
• Goo Goo Dolls
• 3 Doors Down
• Third Eye Blind
• Matchbox 20

I've had these cd's since the 90's. I realize I still like this category / genre, including their more recent music. But they sound so similar, I needed more variety and got bored by them. BTW - what would you call this category? What genre do they all fall in?

Today's song is . . .
Goo Goo Doll's Iris