Remember how I was just talking about sad songs? Well, here's another!
Kathleen Edwards - Alicia Ross
This song isn't just sad, it's devastating. Kathleen Edwards is no stranger to writing (gorgeous) sad songs, but this one has an extra deep level of sadness because it's based on a real life person. Alicia Ross was a 25-year-old from Canada that went missing and the investigation got a lot of media attention. Her next door neighbor eventually turned himself in for killing her. This song gives me some serious chills.
I am a girl with a forgettable face
And no matter my color, no matter my name
At work there is a boy and he treats me well
And my old friends from high school, well I see them around
And August is here. I can't believe how fast
And soon there will be winter and snow on the ground
And maybe by then I could get my own place, closer to the city if that's ok
Mama, can you feel me as I dragged on my day's last cigarette?
He pulled me so hard off my very own backdoor steps
And he lay me in his garden, all the years I've watched him tend
And then he took me, mama, so I could never tell you about it
And inside of this moment there are things that I wish I could know Like your ring size, and my ring size, the hour I was born, and my dad's middle name, and your favorite song... Was your darkest day as dark as this one?
Mama, can you feel me as I dragged on my day's last cigarette?
He pulled me so hard off my very own backdoor steps
And he lay me in his garden, all the years I've watched him tend
And then he took me, mama, so I could never tell you about it
I thought the height difference between Christina Ricci and her ex was substantial...that was before I saw Shaq with his girlfriend (Nikki, aka Hoopz, from Flavor of Love -- What? Her and Flavor Flav didn't last?!). He's 7'1", she's 5'2". Pretty much a two foot difference! This picture blows my mind:
Knee high socks for him would be a pair of pants for her
The Cincinnati CityBeat interviewed Nate Query, the bass player for The Decemberists:
CB: There have been other mixed reports that I have been reading that you guys may be taking a very long break. Is there any truth to that? NQ: We're going to be taking a long break. We don’t have an end (to the hiatus) completely settled, but we were talking like three years or something like that, which is a pretty long time. Many bands take that long to put a record out, but we are making it kind of a break where we are not planning on doing shows together or anything. We are letting everybody focus on other stuff. We usually take a break in between records, but a lot of times we end up doing a few shows here or there in the summer. We're trying to make it more of a real hiatus and let everybody go to their own little corner and do their own stuff for a little bit.
I'm not really all that into "pretty boys". That's not to say I'm only digging on ugly or "quirky" people. But, I don't seem to like (in a physical way) those guys that 45-year-old mothers would also say is "a hunk". You know, like the Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise types. Or the types that play Thor and Captain America. I'm not a huge fan of big o'l muscles. I'm ok with toned muscles (i.e., you can see they do in fact have the trace of a muscle somewhere in there), but not POW! muscles that punch you in the face. Ok, this is already feeling too ridiculous and I feel like I'm at a middle school slumber party... With that said, I guess one of the few "pretty boys" that make my Crushworthy list is Ryan Gosling. And maybe his tendency to be in indie films (instead of movies where he's riding on a motorcycle alongside Vin Diesel) makes me like him more (despite those muscles). Before he was winning the hearts of pre-Alzheimer's ladies, he was doing an excellent job as a neo-nazi Jew! The Believer, United States of Leland, Half Nelson, Lars and the Real Girl, Blue Valentine...the guy picks some good movies.
I hereby present to you the evolution of Ryan Gosling:
I actually first developed a crush on Ryan when we were both kids. He was on the Mickey Mouse Club. He was part of the cohort that included Justin Timberlake, Britney Spears, and Christina Aguilera. True, I did have more of a crush on Justin than Ryan, but I still had a crush on Ryan. I was boy craaaazy at that age!
I remember those vests...
Then he turned into a scrawny, wiry adolescent (don't we all?). He was on that Canadian show Breaker High where he played an annoying guy. He didn't really do much for me then.
Then I saw him in that movie Murder by Numbers, and he seemed more grown up. He was still a little thing, but his voice was lower and he exuded confidence and charm (as an egotistical teenager that murders people for fun...). Definitely more mature now. And my interest was a little piqued.
Then I saw The Believer and I thought, "Holy shit, where did those muscles come from?" At the time, he seemed so much more grown up in this movie...but looking back on the pictures (in comparison to what he looks like now) he still looks pretty young and not very muscular. But, trust me, at the time The Believer came out, it seemed like a big transformation.
Then when he was in The Notebook and I barely even recognized him. It was like a Barry Bonds transformation.
And then he just got so damn charming and daper.
Not exactly a dapper picture, but I posted it because he's so fucking cute with his dog.
Oh yeah, did I mention Ryan's halloween-themed band, Dead Man's Bones?
But now he's in this most recent movie with Steve Carell, and he doesn't have a shirt, and he's way too muscular. Disapprove.
Megan Rapinoe
Ok, that Ryan Gosling one was long enough. Like stalker-level long enough. So I'll keep this short. Megan Rapinoe is soccer player on the U.S. Women's National Team. She is an amazing player and had a really great World Cup. She was the one that beautifully assisted Abby Wambach's goal in the 122nd minute against Brazil (in stoppage time of overtime). One of the greatest moments in soccer, in my opinion. She also took (and made) one of the penalty kicks in the shootout at the Brazil game. Soccer-playing abilities aside, she was also quite famous for her hair during the World Cup. And it is indeed quite awesome. Her fantastic soccer skills (yes, that's a turn on), her sense of humor, and her god damn cuteness factor makes her totally someone I would do.
Rorsch Map is a really addicting site for me. It takes Google Map images and turns them into kaleidoscope pictures. You enter a location in (as specific or broad as you want), and then morph it to your liking (e.g., zoom in/out, move it up/down, drag it in/out, etc). I'm a big fan of aerial pictures and the organized patterns of streets and buildings, so I can't say I'm surprised this became a huge consumer of my time. I love the geometric designs.
Here are some images I created while messing around (Note: As they're kaleidoscopic pictures, you'll notice they are mirror-images and not an exact replica of what the city looks like. Also, while zooming out from a picture, it might be that the location is no longer in the city bounds. But I listed the city name that was my starting point):
The climatic scene from The Champ, with Ricky Schroder crying over his father, is (scientifically) considered the saddest movie scene. It's the scene, used in a laboratory setting, that elicits the most sadness. Even more so than the scene in which Bambi's mom dies. Psychologists often use the clip from The Champ to get participants sad in order to study the effects of sadness (e.g., one study found that people are more likely to spend money when they are sad).
Researchers say it's a good scene because it produces one dominant emotion. Some suggestions for sad movie scenes were eliminated because they elicit a mixture of emotions like sadness AND anger. So I guess that's probably why my go-to heartbreaking scene from Steel Magnolias didn't make the cut. It's too complex. There's sadness, anger ("I just want to hit something!"), and it even makes you smile at the end ("Take a whack at Ouiser!"). That's right, it's too complex for you lab rats! (Also, I wouldn't be surprised if psychologists wouldn't want to use it because some male participants probably would be too stubborn to cry at Steel Magnolias. Because it's a girrrrl movie. Whereas, macho guys maybe allow themselves to cry when it comes to sports movies. Like Brian's Song. So maybe The Champ is universally crying-acceptable).
You might think that I will now discuss what movie scenes I think are the saddest. And while I do have a list of obvious contenders (i.e., movies where people die: Steel Magnolias, Beaches, Terms of Endearment, Boys on the Side...I've talked about these before) and not-necessarily-so-obvious contenders (i.e., scenes -- or moments in scenes -- that aren't necessarily sad, but they make me sad. Like in Almost Famous when William says to his sister's boyfriend -- as they're packing up to move away -- "take good care of her....man." And it's how he insecurely inserts the "man" at the end in order to sound cool. He's going to miss his sister and he's looking for approval from his sister and her boyfriend. And the boyfriend just rolls his eyes and laughs. That always breaks my heart a little), I'm not actually going to be discussing sad movie scenes for this post.
While the article did make me think about sad movies scenes, it then evolved into me thinking about sad songs. And while I was compiling a list in my head of sad songs, a sad song actually started playing on my itunes in the background (further proof that my itunes/ipod is sentient). And that's the point of this whole entry, to present this sad song. This sad song about not accepting that your significant other doesn't want to be with you anymore, and you're begging them to not end it, and that you promise you'll be someone that they want.
The Avett Brothers - If It's The Beaches
(The creator of this video took the 'beach' part of the song and ran with it...)
Don't say it's over, 'cause that's the worst news I could hear I swear that I will do my best to be here just the way you like it Even though it's hard to hide, push my feelings all aside I will rearrange my plans and change for you If I could go back, that's the first thing I would do I swear that I would do my best to follow through Come up with a master plan, a homerun hit, a winning stand A guarantee, and not a promise, that I'll never let your love slip from my hands If it's the beaches...if it's the beaches' sands you want, then you will have them If it's the mountains' bending rivers, then you will have them If it's a wish to run away, then I will grant it Take whatever you think of, while I go gas up the truck Pack the old love letters up, we will read them when we forget why we left here
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