Cool cover song of the week...

I've been a huge fan of Queen for as long as I can remember. There wasn't a camp tournament or event that didn't involve some chanting of We Will Rock You or playing We Are the Champions, and once the ill-fated film version of Flash Gordon was released, you can bet I didn't stop singing "Flash—ah, ah...savior of the universe" for quite some time.

I first saw the movie Highlander in the mid-1980s, and I remember hearing (and liking) the song Who Wants to Live Forever, but I don't know if I realized that Queen sang it until years later. It's so haunting, the lyrics are really poetic and poignant, and Freddie Mercury was in fantastic voice for this song.

The hard rock band Breaking Benjamin covered the song in 2005 for a Queen tribute album called Killer Queen. While I wasn't honestly wowed by a lot of the songs on the album, their version of Who Wants to Live Forever stood out for me, both for its harder-edged treatment and lead singer Benjamin Burnley's vocals. It's still fairly faithful to the original without being quite as haunting.

Here's Breaking Benjamin's version:


And for a trip down memory lane, here's Queen's official video for the song:


Check out my previous Cool Cover Songs of the Week:

Borderline by The Counting Crows

How Deep Is Your Love by The Bird and The Bee

Life in a Northern Town by Sugarland, Little Big Town, and Jake Owen

I Don't Want to Talk About It by The Indigo Girls

Only You by Joshua Radin

Pure Imagination by Maroon 5

I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles) by Blake Stratton

What a Fool Believes by Neri Per Caso

Poker Face by Daughtry

Back to Black by Ronnie Spector

I Will Survive by Cake

The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face by The Stereophonics

Rolling in the Deep by John Legend

Go Your Own Way by Lissie

Winner Takes it All by McFly

What a Wonderful World by Joey Ramone

Careless Whisper by Seether

I Walk the Line by Live

Dear Prudence by Siouxsie and The Banshees

Smooth Criminal by Alien Ant Farm

Book Review: "Let's Explore Diabetes with Owls" by David Sedaris

There were times when reading Let's Explore Diabetes with Owls, David Sedaris' new, occasionally laugh-out-loud-funny collection of essays and fictional humorous pieces, that I thought, "David Sedaris and I share a brain," because in his rants about overly permissive parents in stores, people who talk too long with customer service representatives at the expense of others in line behind them, the way people dress in the airport, etc., I felt he and I were on the same wavelength.

And then, as he waxed on about food safety and other cleanliness issues in China, his obsession with picking up trash near his home in the United Kingdom, the eating habits of the Australian kookaburra, and his childhood acts (unintentional and otherwise) of animal cruelty, I thought, "Well, maybe we just share a tiny piece of a brain," because in addition to being so insightful, Sedaris is more than a little bit crazy. But we like him that way!

I've always been a huge Sedaris fan, although the last collection of his I read, When You Are Engulfed in Flames, underwhelmed me a bit. Not so with this collection. I literally laughed out loud a number of times and had to explain, "It's the book I'm reading." Whether he was talking about his father's championing everyone except him in Attaboy, sharing the successes and pitfalls of learning new languages in Easy, Tiger, recounting his experiences doing readings for fans (which included a hilarious recounting of his adventures in a North Carolina Costco with his brother-in-law) in Author, Author, or his impatience with overly friendly people in Now Hiring Friendly People, his humor is on point and his reactions are absolutely hysterical.

In addition to his essays, the collection also includes a few humorous short story-type narratives. The funniest one for me (but in that typical offbeat Sedaris way) was Just a Quick E-mail, when a recent bride reached out to someone who didn't quite share her happiness. Some of the others, which took on reaction to same-sex marriage, Jesus, and "Obamacare"-related issues, made me squirm a little more than laugh. But they were so brief, it didn't quite matter.

I'm fairly cynical about my humor, and many so-called "funny" books I don't find particularly so, especially when they've been hyped as hysterically funny. But David Sedaris' new collection is one of those books, much like Augusten Burroughs' first few, which made me laugh out loud, and left me sad when I was finished.

The ride of a lifetime?

A Target opened about a mile from our house last fall. It's located on the top floor of a four-story building, so it has one of those cool conveyor belt escalators you can put your cart on as you ride the regular escalator.

While it seems pretty self-explanatory in terms of what you should and shouldn't do, one has to wonder if the sign was put up in response to parents letting their children ride the conveyor belt, or if it's just protection from liability. And I love the misplaced modifier "from the bottom of the cart"—or are there really parents who let their children ride in the bottom of the cart?

In that case, here's your sign...

A role model to look up to for more than one reason...

"I'm a 34-year-old NBA center. I'm black. And I'm gay."

So begins an article penned by Jason Collins, a 12-season basketball player who played for the Washington Wizards and Boston Celtics this year, in an article which appears in the May 6 issue of Sports Illustrated.

For a few weeks, rumors have swirled around the sports world that there were several athletes considering coming out of the closet, although that number has shrunk recently. And with allegations that Minnesota Vikings punter Chris Kluwe, an outspoken advocate for marriage equality, might be pushed out in favor of a player with less "distractions", the possibility an athlete would take that step seemed less and less a reality.

But Jason Collins has stepped into the limelight. As he said, "I didn't set out to be the first openly gay athlete playing in a major American team sport. But since I am, I'm happy to start the conversation. I wish I wasn't the kid in the classroom raising his hand and saying, 'I'm different.' If I had my way, someone else would have already done this. Nobody has, which is why I'm raising my hand."

Will this be the show of courage that athletes in professional sports need to know it's okay to step forward and be who you are? Will this be an example for boys and men who know they feel different but worry about the stigma to be more comfortable accepting who they are? Will disclosures hamper an athlete's ability to succeed in their sport, or will they face animosity from fans?

Those answers will take time to uncover. But for now, it's easy to say, Bravo, Jason Collins. And thank you for your bravery.

Read more about Collins' story at sportsillustrated.cnn.com/magazine/news/20130429/jason-collins-gay-nba-player/#ixzz2RrnoYACJ.

Book Review: "The Slippage" by Ben Greenman

"The slippage is a specific thing. It's the moment when you start to lose your footing."

It's hard to tell where William Day's slippage began. Was it at the party he and his wife, Louisa, threw, when she didn't come out of hiding until the very end? Was it the moment an emotionally distant Louisa revealed she had bought property with inherited money, and asked William to build her a house? Or was it the unexpected reappearance of a person with whom he had a brief relationship some time ago?

Whatever was the instigator, something—or a combination of things—seems to be increasing William's discomfort with his life, his marriage, and his career, causing him to act erratically in all three aspects. And Louisa's fluctuating moods don't seem to help, although he tries taking solace in the time he spends with a former girlfriend's young son. But finally he is confronted with a major decision—build the house for Louisa or risk jeopardizing his marriage irrevocably. Meanwhile, he also has to deal with his artist brother-in-law's emotional baggage, and the increased tension of an arsonist stalking their town.

Ben Greenman's The Slippage is a well-written and intriguing book about relationships, but it's also more about the things left unsaid than the things that are actually said. So often in this book the characters didn't say what they were thinking or feeling, or didn't divulge the truth about a particular situation, which often led to misunderstandings or caused the characters to act in ways they might not ordinarily. At times I found myself wondering what the characters were really thinking, or what was motivating them to act the way they were, and that confused me occasionally. But these pauses, these secrets really made the situations Greenman wrote about seem more true-to-life.

I really enjoyed Greenman's storytelling ability, and thought for the most part, William was a really compelling character, although at times he, too, was a little more mysterious than I thought he'd be. But I found Louisa's character fairly unlikeable, and in fact, Louisa's actions toward the end of the book seemed somewhat out of character, so I wasn't sure if we were to take her at face value. Still, Greenman's voice is an enjoyable one, and I plan to go back and explore some of his earlier story collections to see the depth of his talent.

Get ready for an awesome summer of movies!!

The 2013 summer movie season officially kicks off next weekend with the release of Iron Man 3, but if this mash-up of trailers for a number of movies to be released this summer is any indication (assembled by Movies.com), I know I'll be spending a lot of time in the movie theater this summer. (Besides, I hate the humidity in the DC area anyway.)



Movies included in this mash-up are: Iron Man 3, The Great Gatsby, Star Trek Into Darkness (Two words: Benedict Cumberbatch), The Hangover Part III, Fast and Furious Six, Epic, After Earth, Now You See Me, The Internship, This is the End, Man of Steel, Monsters University, World War Z, White House Down, Despicable Me 2, The Lone Ranger, Pacific Rim, Grown Ups 2 (Wow, never even heard of the first one), Turbo, The Conjuring, RED 2, The Wolverine, Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters, Elysium, Disney's Planes, Kick-Ass 2, and The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones.

There are a few other movies I'm looking forward to this summer, including Joss Whedon's adaptation of Much Ado about Nothing, and Ryan Gosling's reunion with his Drive director, Nicolas Winding Refn, in Only God Forgives. And there's bound to be a surprise or two. (At least I hope so!)

Book Review: "The Humanity Project" by Jean Thompson

It takes a skilled author to create flawed characters that interest you and cause you to empathize with them even if you don't necessarily sympathize with them. But in Jean Thompson's new novel, The Humanity Project, a meditation on the flaws that make us human and an examination of whether or not we can redeem ourselves after doing something wrong, she does just that. I don't know that I'd want to spend any appreciable amount of time with any of these characters, but they definitely intrigued me enough to keep reading about them.

Linnea Kooperman survives the trauma of a shooting in her high school, but her guilt about surviving (among other things) leads her into more emotional troubles and unstable behavior than her mother and stepfather can handle, so they send her to California to live with her estranged father, Art, whom she hasn't seen since she was very young. Art has never quite grown up himself, a fact which has hampered him from significant success career-wise or relationship-wise, so he is ill-prepared for the sudden responsibilities of being a full-time parent, especially to a challenging teenager like Linnea. Art's neighbor, Christie, is a nurse constantly searching for her psychic center, when she is challenged by one of her patients, Mrs. Foster, who wants Christie to run The Humanity Project, a nebulous charitable foundation with the somewhat auspicious mission of trying to make humanity better.

Meanwhile, Mrs. Foster's new handyman/houseboy, Conner, has problems of his own. He had to short circuit completing his education and pursuing a future when his father is injured in an accident and becomes addicted to painkillers. Conner finds it difficult having to switch roles and responsibilities with his father, and often wishes he could just go back to a "normal" life—finish high school, go to college, pursue romantic relationships, and have a typical future everyone else seems to. His interactions with Linnea perplex him, frustrate him, and yet give him the opportunity to confide in someone else about some of the burdens he faces.

Each of the characters' lives intersect in many different ways, and Thompson explores the idea of what makes us good or bad, and can people truly be classified as one or the other? It's an interesting concept, and Thompson weaves an interesting story, but it never quite hooked me the way I hoped it would. I kept expecting something significant to happen, to feel as if the story Thompson was telling led me to answers for one of the many questions she explores. It wasn't the characters' flaws that alienated me; it was the fact that the characters never fully opened up until the very end of the story, if at all.

I read Thompson's last book, The Year We Left Home, just about two years ago, and as with that book, nothing earth-shattering happens (much like life for most people), but her writing is still worth reading.

The perfect date...

It is, after all, April 25! Love, love, love Miss Congeniality.

The hands of time go "Schwing!"

Cue Bohemian Rhapsody! It's party time! Excellent!

It's been—believe it or not—21 years since Wayne's World premiered. To mark the not-quite-momentous occasion, several members of the cast, along with Penelope Spheeris, who directed the film, and Lorne Michaels, under whose watch on Saturday Night Live the original comedy sketch was born, gathered for a screening of the movie earlier this week.

We all look different than we did 21 years ago. But while Tia Carrere (Cassandra) looks terrific, clearly Lara Flynn Boyle (Stacy) has had some unfortunate advice where plastic surgery is concerned. It's hard to age in Hollywood, especially for women, but this is sad. And as for Wayne and Garth (Mike Myers and Dana Carvey) themselves? The years haven't been too bad, have they?

Can we talk about Rob Lowe (Benjamin) for a second? Does the man ever age?

We're not worthy...

And a little child shall lead them...

A 4th grade teacher posted the above essay to Reddit, saying, "One of my 4th grade students chose gay marriage as his topic for a persuasive essay. This is the result. More sense than some adults."

Out of the mouths of babes, indeed. And not a bad argument. Maybe this student can share their views with Paul Cameron, a prominent health researcher, who told Senator Rob Portman (R-OH) that he should renounce his support for marriage equality and convince his gay son to marry a woman.

Diff'rent strokes to move the world...

Shouldn't we all strive for this kind of happiness?

I've never been a huge fan of GEICO's advertising—the cavemen still give me nightmares and the gecko is starting to wear on me a bit. Give me Liberty Mutual's great ad about not-so-coordinated athletes, or of course, any of Allstate's Mayhem ads, and I'm happy. (Heck, I even like the State Farm ads. Like a good neighbor...)

However, when I saw this GEICO ad on Facebook recently, it actually cracked me up. Shouldn't we all want to be this happy? (I do know I'd be throwing a temper tantrum if I were behind him in line, but maybe he'd make some crescent rolls afterward...)

Just a random thought for a sleep-deprived Wednesday.

A classy close for a classy guy...

I've written about NFL linebacker Scott Fujita before, and how much I admire him for being one of just a few professional athletes who have been tremendously vocal advocates for marriage equality.

Fujita, age 33, played four seasons with the New Orleans Saints, including their victory in Super Bowl 44. He played his last three seasons with the Cleveland Browns, and also spent time with the Kansas City Chiefs and Dallas Cowboys. Over his 143-game career, he recorded 767 tackles, 23.5 sacks, 11 forced fumbles and seven interceptions.

Earlier today, Fujita signed a one-day contract with the Saints, and then announced his retirement, so he was able to retire as a member of the team he felt closest to. And he couldn't have signed the contract in a more beautiful place—at Machu Picchu in Peru. He traveled there with former Saints teammate Steve Gleason, who is currently fighting Lou Gehrig's Disease.

"What better place to reach the end of the road," Fujita said in a statement, "than here at 10,000 feet above sea level, in the Peruvian Andes overlooking Machu Picchu with my dear friend Steve Gleason?"

A tip of the hat and strong thanks to someone who has always championed equal rights. Here's hoping the next chapter of his career is as fulfilling—and sees him continuing to help fight the battles we still face.

Cool cover song of the week...

No matter what issues he had in his personal life, there's no denying Michael Jackson's exceptional talent. I had the opportunity to see his Bad tour in 1988 (I think that's the last thing I won from a radio station), and I still remember how blown away I was by his performances and his choreography. Between that album, hits off of Thriller, and his earlier stuff, Jackson's music is tremendously memorable, and I still find myself singing along (and pretending to dance) when I hear his songs.

Smooth Criminal was (amazingly) the seventh single released off of Bad. I love the beat and, of course, the constant refrain of "Annie, are you okay, are you okay, Annie?" The song hit number seven on the Billboard Hot 100 chart after it was released in 1988.

The band Alien Ant Farm released a cover version of Smooth Criminal in 2001, which I thought was fairly faithful although unique and a bit harder than Jackson's. For fun, I enjoy juxtaposing both versions of the song. And when I'm feeling slightly more introspective but still in the mood for the song, I listen to the amazing instrumental cover version recorded in 2011 by the musical group 2Cellos.

Here's Alien Ant Farm's version:


Here's 2Cellos' version (not bad for a song entirely performed on cello):


And just for fun, here's Michael's original version:


Check out my previous Cool Cover Songs of the Week:

Borderline by The Counting Crows

How Deep Is Your Love by The Bird and The Bee

Life in a Northern Town by Sugarland, Little Big Town, and Jake Owen

I Don't Want to Talk About It by The Indigo Girls

Only You by Joshua Radin

Pure Imagination by Maroon 5

I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles) by Blake Stratton

What a Fool Believes by Neri Per Caso

Poker Face by Daughtry

Back to Black by Ronnie Spector

I Will Survive by Cake

The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face by The Stereophonics

Rolling in the Deep by John Legend

Go Your Own Way by Lissie

Winner Takes it All by McFly

What a Wonderful World by Joey Ramone

Careless Whisper by Seether

I Walk the Line by Live

Dear Prudence by Siouxsie and The Banshees

You think YOU'RE having a bad day at work??

The first day at a new job is always stressful. You don't know what you should be doing, you feel a little out of sorts, and no matter how excited you are about your new opportunity, it takes a while for you to get completely acclimated.

Well, let's hope you never have a first day on the job like A.J. Clemente did. He was all set to make his debut as one of the weekend anchors of the NBC affiliate in North Dakota, when something caused him to utter a few newsworthy, but inappropriate words. (Listen carefully to the start of the broadcast.) Clearly, his co-anchor heard it, as did everyone else.

Initially, the network suspended Clemente for the incident, but sadly, he's since been fired. It just goes to show you how important it is to keep your cool at all times. (And hopefully A.J. will land on his feet, and remember to treat every microphone like a live microphone!)

Book Review: "Ordinary Grace" by William Kent Krueger

Many novels take place in an earlier time, but not all have the ability to evoke feelings of nostalgia and perfectly capture times gone by. Authors like Larry Watson have done it (with novels like Montana 1948 and American Boy), and with his new novel, Ordinary Grace, mystery writer William Kent Krueger has done so as well.

The book takes place in New Bremen, Minnesota in the summer of 1961. Thirteen-year-old Frank Drum is on the cusp of young adulthood and he occupies himself the way most boys his age do—hanging out with friends, trying to get a glimpse of women whenever he can, wanting to be treated like an adult, and simultaneously protecting and bullying his younger brother, Jake, who has a debilitating stutter. Their father, Nathan, is the town's Methodist minister, who hasn't quite shaken the horrors he experienced in World War II; his mother, Ruth, isn't quite satisfied with life as the wife of a minister, and pins all of her hopes and dreams on her daughter, Ariel, the boys' older sister, who is a gifted pianist and musician about to attend Juilliard on scholarship.

When a young boy is killed by a train, the idyllic nature of New Bremen begins to shatter. And when questions about whether the boy's death was an accident begin to arise, they set into motion a number of discoveries and serve as a catalyst to several other tragic events that summer which rock Frank and Jake to their core, making them question their parents, their faith, and those in authority, and cause them to deal with feelings of guilt, anger, sadness, and betrayal.

This is a well-written, slow-moving book which doesn't surprise, but it does pull you in. The characters are complex and well drawn, and not entirely sympathetic, but you are still interested in finding out what happens to them. I found the resolution of the major crime in the book a little too predictable, but liked the way the book wrapped up. My greatest frustration, however, was how so many of the events were set into motion simply because Frank or Jake were either bullied into divulging secrets or felt bullied into keeping secrets they shouldn't have. It reminded me a little of Atonement in that way. I know that younger children do blurt things out but the fact that it happened more than once—and that those in authority manipulated this information—weakened my fondness for the book a bit.

Ordinary Grace perfectly captures a time and a place that no longer exists. William Kent Krueger is an excellent storyteller, and although I found the book frustrating in places, it is still tremendously readable and well-written. But if you're a fan of Krueger's mysteries, be warned—this is fiction with a touch of mystery, not a thriller.

Movie Review: "Oblivion"

It's often said (and not just by me) that there are few, if any, original ideas left in Hollywood. That may be true, but I guess there are still unique combinations of recycled ideas, so all is not completely lost. Tom Cruise's new movie, Oblivion, mixes a little bit of Inception with a little bit of Blade Runner and maybe even a little bit of Invasion of the Body Snatchers. As you might imagine, mixing disparate movies creates an end result that's a little bit foggy, but still compelling, entertaining, and maybe even a little heart-tugging.

It's the future. Much of Earth was destroyed in a war with the alien Scavs (Scavengers), who destroyed the moon, which led to tsunamis, earthquakes, and nuclear war. Those who survived were shipped to Titan, one of Saturn's moons. But Jack Harper (Cruise) remains on Earth, as he is assigned to repair the drones that patrol the barren planet in search of wayward Scavs. He lives with Victoria (Andrea Riseborough), his supervisor and girlfriend, in a cool house that would have left the Jetsons green with envy. Victoria takes orders from Mission Control (a menacingly friendly Melissa Leo, syrupy drawl and all), and she and Jack have only two more weeks until their assignment is done and they can leave Earth.

But Jack isn't your ordinary drone repairman. He keeps having flashbacks of a woman (Quantum of Solace's Olga Kurylenko) on the observation deck of the Empire State Building that he can't quite figure out. He collects books when he can find them among the detritus of war, and he thirsts for any glimpses of the world they no longer have—he even does his repairs wearing a vintage Yankees cap. And one day on what seems like an ordinary repair mission, he sees a space capsule crash land, and the drones are hell-bent on destroying the crew. The one crew member he's able to rescue? The beautiful woman from his dreams, of course.

That rescue mission leads him into the clutches of a surprising band of people led by Beech (Morgan Freeman, complete with trench coat). Beech clues Jack into the fact that all is not what it seems to be—not his mission, not the war, not his girlfriend, and certainly not Mission Control. What's a guy to do?

Oblivion throws in a good number of twists and turns, some of which I'm still not completely sure about. But there are some pretty cool action sequences—Tom Cruise is an excellent pilot, as Top Gun fans should know all too well. It's a little more intellectual and introspective than a typical summer blockbuster, but it's a tad slower than it should be, and it doesn't know if it wants to be Armageddon or Planet of the Apes sometimes. However, Tom Cruise proves that, at 50 years old, he's still a credible action hero who can run (as is required in all of his movies), tumble, and fight just like he did back in the 80s.

This isn't a perfect movie by any means, but it's definitely an entertaining diversion that plays well on the big screen. And if anything else, it's a terrific appetizer to what appears will be a pretty sensational summer movie season.

They're not laughing AT him, they're, well...

There's no denying Ryan Lochte is a tremendously talented athlete, and his looks certainly don't hurt his appeal. Prior to and following his multi-medal performance at the 2012 Summer Olympics, he's been a fixture all over the media, showing up at events, making guest appearances on talk shows (without his shirt) and television shows like 90210, and he's even starting a fashion line.

In most of his interviews, Lochte comes across as a bit of a tool, much more enamored of hearing himself talk than hearing what others have to say. So it seems only natural that E! would offer him his own reality show, What Would Ryan Lochte Do?, continuing the premise of following the lives of people who aren't particularly worthy of being followed.

When Lochte appeared on Good Morning Philly earlier this week to promote his show, he couldn't quite explain what the show was about, or why people would want to watch it. And following the somewhat interminable interview, the anchors absolutely lost themselves, not laughing with Lochte, but at him. I'm sure no one is pleased that this segment was filmed, and I'm sure the anchors had to be somewhat contrite after this clip has gone viral, but it's still funny to watch, especially if you think Lochte should just stick to the swimming pool. (Their reaction begins at 3:50.)

Book Review: "Damage Control: Stories" by Amber Dermont

In the hands of a talented writer, short stories can have almost a transcendent quality, an ability to transport you into the minds of unique characters and memorable situations. I was a huge fan of Amber Dermont's debut novel, The Starboard Sea (in fact, it was one of my favorite books I read last year), so I was excited to read her new short story collection, Damage Control. And after reading the 14 stories in this collection, I was pleased to see that her writing ability continues to grow, and her career is definitely one I will continue to follow.

The characters in Dermont's stories don't follow one particular pattern—some are overly confident while some are unsure of themselves, some are lucky in love while some fight to find it. I really enjoyed nearly every story in this collection—some made me laugh, some made me think, some even made me slightly emotional, but each has remained in my mind, which I've often said is one of the hallmarks of a great writer.

Among my favorite stories were The Language of Martyrs, in which a woman tries to outsmart her boyfriend's mother but realizes that her motivations aren't quite what she imagined; Sorry, You Are Not a Winner, which told the story of a former rich girl forced to work as a maid while she cares for her ailing parents, but she never quite leaves her old mentality behind; Lyndon, in which a teenage girl and her mother take a trip to Lyndon Johnson's birthplace as a tribute to her late father; Afternoons in the Museum of Childhood, where a teenage girl who had been kidnapped by a man who called himself Messiah (a la Elizabeth Smart) deals with her life back home with her parents; and the title story, about a man who works at an etiquette school while his fiancée battles embezzlement charges and he battles scandals among the students.

A few of the stories were a little more experimental than I would have liked, but by and large, this is a tremendously entertaining and compelling collection. Dermont's voice is fresh and lively, and her stories are quite memorable. If you're a short story fan, this is a collection worth exploring. If you're not a fan of short stories, definitely pick up her novel The Starboard Sea. And remember—this author is one we'll be hearing about for a long time to come.

Cool cover song of the week...

Dear Prudence isn't necessarily one of The Beatles' most well-known songs, but it's a favorite of mine. The John Lennon-penned song was written in 1968 and appeared on The White Album. It was inspired by Prudence Farrow, the sister of actress Mia Farrow, who was was present when the Beatles went to India to study with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. (Apparently Farrow was so serious about her meditation, she barely acknowledged the world around her, so Lennon wrote the song to remind her that she needed to remember to live her life outside of meditation as well.) It's a sweet, upbeat song, with terrific lyrics, especially, "The sun is up, the sky is blue, it's beautiful, and so are you."

The English band Siouxsie and the Banshees covered Dear Prudence in 1983, and it became their biggest hit, reaching number 3 on the UK Singles Chart. The song has been covered by a number of diverse artists, including Jerry Garcia (who called it one of his all-time personal favorites), one of my current favorite bands, Grace Potter and The Nocturnals, and also was performed in the Beatles-themed movie, Across the Universe.

Here's the Siouxsie and the Banshees version:


Here's a Jerry Garcia rendition for my Deadhead friends out there:


And here's the Grace Potter version:


Don't forget, especially today: The sun is up, the sky is blue, it's beautiful, and so are you.

Check out my previous Cool Cover Songs of the Week:

Borderline by The Counting Crows

How Deep Is Your Love by The Bird and The Bee

Life in a Northern Town by Sugarland, Little Big Town, and Jake Owen

I Don't Want to Talk About It by The Indigo Girls

Only You by Joshua Radin

Pure Imagination by Maroon 5

I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles) by Blake Stratton

What a Fool Believes by Neri Per Caso

Poker Face by Daughtry

Back to Black by Ronnie Spector

I Will Survive by Cake

The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face by The Stereophonics

Rolling in the Deep by John Legend

Go Your Own Way by Lissie

Winner Takes it All by McFly

What a Wonderful World by Joey Ramone

Careless Whisper by Seether

I Walk the Line by Live

Making sense of nonsensical things...

The news first came like it almost always does—during a birthday celebration for a colleague, someone mentioned that they had heard about some explosions occurring near the finish line of the Boston Marathon. It seemed, like things did that strangely quiet September morning nearly 12 years ago, almost too outlandish to comprehend. Could someone really have set off bombs at the end of a race like this?

By now, we know that yesterday's events were all too true. Three people, including an eight-year-old boy, have died, and more than 140 people have been injured. By whom, and for what, we don't know, except the fact that whatever person(s) or group that is behind this are cowards. That's the only word that can describe someone who puts shrapnel-filled devices in trash cans and detonates them among people gathered to celebrate victory. But what was accomplished, even if it temporarily dazed and dizzied us, was that this incident again made us stronger. As I mentioned on Facebook, there are many, many things in this country that divide us as a people, but at times like this we react as one. We may bend but we don't break.

What is so unfathomable about yesterday's events is that it took people from one of their proudest moments to one of their most afraid in a split second. I ran a half marathon in December 2009. I trained for six months, worried about the race for weeks, and although I wound up tearing my hip flexor muscle, I crossed that finish line (a lot slower than I should have). I remember how it felt to cross, to walk away with a blanket, a medal, and a banana that tasted like ambrosia. My heart goes out to those robbed of that feeling of accomplishment, and especially to those who were in the direct path of the explosions.

One of the greatest things, as I've seen in so many places on social media, is the tremendous bravery and sacrifice of the first responders and all those who provided assistance in the seconds and minutes following the explosions. With no thought of their own safety, they did what they do best—help, comfort, and protect. I'd say, as I have so many times, that Mr. Rogers said it best:

Book Review: "The Interestings" by Meg Wolitzer

It's often said that the friends you make in childhood may be some of the best friends you'll ever have. As someone who not only has remained close to the first friend I ever made (when I was nearly five years old), but as someone who spent 10 summers at camp in upstate New York, I was tremendously intrigued by Meg Wolitzer's new novel, The Interestings. In the summer of 1974, six teenagers at Spirit-in-the-Woods, an arts camp in Massachusetts, gather together one evening, and dub themselves "The Interestings." For awkward 15-year-old Julie Jacobson, suddenly being accepted into this crowd of beautiful, somewhat talented, and intriguing people finally gives her life purpose, and she realizes that she has a talent for making people laugh.

The three summers that Julie (who now calls herself Jules) and her five friends—ethereally beautiful and intelligent Ash and her cocky, unmotivated brother Goodman; Ethan, the awkward but exceptionally talented cartoonist and animator who becomes enamored with Jules; equally beautiful Jonah, the child of a famed 1970s folk singer who is adrift in the world; and needy, moody Cathy—spend at camp fulfill her more than her boring, suburban life can, and she really only feels satisfied when in the company of the group. And as the group heads to different colleges and pursues different paths into adulthood, Jules finds herself longing for the carefree days of those summers, where the promise of following your talent and your dreams was so much more tantalizing than reality.

The Interestings follows Jules, Ash, Ethan, and Jonah (with peripheral focus on Goodman and Cathy) for nearly 40 years, as they deal with relationship successes and struggles, career highs and lows, the ins and outs of long-term friendships in which some feel more deserving or worthy than others, and the envy that occurs when some of your friends appear to be more successful and lucky than you think you are. Jules, who abandoned her dreams of becoming a successful character actress early on and pursued a career as a therapist, finds happiness married to Dennis, a so-called "regular" guy, but always finds herself longing for and linked to those friendships formed in summer camp.

This is a book about the positive and negative bonds of friendship, trying to pursue your dreams (or even identify what those dreams are) and trying not to feel like you're settling when your dreams don't turn out the way you hoped, unrequited love, envy, guilt, and always wanting to recapture the beauty and promise of youth. Wolitzer did a really good job creating her main characters and weaving lives for them, and she masterfully weaves between the past and the present. I felt connected with the characters and wanted to know what happened with them, but at times I wished that someone would force them to accept reality instead of dwelling on all of the things they felt weren't right about their lives.

This is a tremendously well-written and compelling look at friendship. But in the end, the plot isn't entirely as, well, interesting, as I hoped it would be.

Cool cover song of the week...

Johnny Cash was truly a legend. He was amazing in that while he always stayed true to himself as an artist, he was never afraid to experiment with new styles or take on songs that his contemporaries would never have dreamed of doing, particularly Nine Inch Nails' Hurt, which he covered in 2003.

His songs are the first thing that come to mind when I think of Johnny Cash. The plaintive melodies and his ability to tell a story simply with his voice is a gift that not many artists, past or present, have. But the beauty of songs like Ring of Fire, Folsom Prison Blues and, of course, I Walk the Line, is that their simplicity lends themselves well to other artists' interpretations, whether faithful or slightly creative.

In 2004, the former rock group Live released a cover version of I Walk the Line on their greatest hits compilation. While faithful fans of Live and Johnny Cash were aware of the cover, many others weren't until American Idol contestant Chris Daughtry sang Live's version of the song during the show's fifth season in 2006. (Joaquin Phoenix sang a more faithful version of the song in his Oscar-nominated performance as Johnny Cash in the 2005 film Walk the Line.)

I have always been a fan of Live, particularly for lead singer Ed Kowalczyk's vocals, and I think his range works tremendously well on this song. But you be the judge. (My apologies for the video; that's the price you pay with YouTube!)


Here's Johnny Cash's original version:


Here's Chris Daughtry's Live-inspired version:


And here's Joaquin Phoenix's version from Walk the Line:


Check out my previous Cool Cover Songs of the Week:

Borderline by The Counting Crows

How Deep Is Your Love by The Bird and The Bee

Life in a Northern Town by Sugarland, Little Big Town, and Jake Owen

I Don't Want to Talk About It by The Indigo Girls

Only You by Joshua Radin

Pure Imagination by Maroon 5

I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles) by Blake Stratton

What a Fool Believes by Neri Per Caso

Poker Face by Daughtry

Back to Black by Ronnie Spector

I Will Survive by Cake

The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face by The Stereophonics

Rolling in the Deep by John Legend

Go Your Own Way by Lissie

Winner Takes it All by McFly

What a Wonderful World by Joey Ramone

Careless Whisper by Seether

Movie Review: "The Place Beyond the Pines"

Ryan Gosling is such a terrific actor that even when he plays less-than-upstanding characters (which he does more often than not), you find yourself wanting to sympathize with him. And this is the case again in the brooding The Place Beyond the Pines, which reunites Gosling with director and screenwriter Derek Cianfrance, who directed him in 2010's Blue Valentine, a film for which Gosling should have received an Oscar nomination.

Luke Glanton (Gosling) is a motorcycle daredevil who performs in a traveling carnival. When the carnival returns to Schenectady, NY, Luke sees Romina (Eva Mendes), a woman with whom he had a one-night stand the last time he was in town, he finds out that she had given birth to his son, and was raising him with her new boyfriend. Luke is overwhelmed by this revelation, and decides he should stay in town and try to find a place in both of their lives, which is, of course, easier said than done.

Desperate to find a way to provide for his son, Luke turns to robbing banks, aided by his superior motorcycling skills and mentored by former bank robber Robin (The Dark Knight Rises' Ben Mendelsohn). But Romina doesn't want Luke's help, and she struggles with his presence in her life, particularly as his frustration turns to rage. And when Luke's desperation pushes him too far, he finds himself on a collision course with an earnest young policeman, Avery Cross (Bradley Cooper).

This is a difficult movie to review without spoilers, and the movie is much more expansive than what you see in the trailers. The movie follows Cross' rise, fueled by outside circumstances and his own ambitions, and then moves forward 15 years, when it follows two teenage boys, driven by a powerful yet unknown legacy that will touch both of them significantly.

The Place Beyond the Pines is far from a perfect film—it moves a little too slowly and is a little too long, and has perhaps a few too many twists and turns. But the performances—particularly from Gosling, Mendes, and Dane DeHaan—are complex and powerful, and the movie makes you think about how future generations are affected by the actions of the past. This is a movie about fathers and sons, and how trying to do the right thing for your child isn't always the right thing.

Movie Review: "The Sapphires"

I don't know what it is about Australia—maybe it's something in the water, maybe it's just the overall beauty of the country—but I can count a number of Australian-made movies as some of my favorites, including Muriel's Wedding, Strictly Ballroom, and The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert. Not only are these movies well-made, but they're tremendously entertaining and full of heart. To that list, and many more, I'd add The Sapphires, a sweet, funny, and touching movie about music, family, relationships, independence, and overcoming your fears, set against the backdrop of the tumultuous late 1960s and the Vietnam War.

Feisty, protective Gail (Deborah Mailman) and her flighty sister, Cynthia (Miranda Tapsell) leave their Aboriginal mission in Australia to enter a singing competition. It's 1968, and in Australia, there is a great deal of prejudice toward Aborigines. Gail and Cynthia's younger sister, Julie (Jessica Mauboy) is determined to join them, but she is told by her mother she is too young, even though she is already a mother to a small child. But Julie knows her voice is what the girls need to succeed, so she runs away from home to join them. And while the trio is clearly the most talented group in the competition, they are prevented from winning and told to leave the club.

The day isn't a total loss, though, as the girls meet Dave Lovelace (Bridesmaids' Chris O'Dowd), a bumbling musician and promoter with a bit of a drinking problem. They convince Dave to help them secure an audition to perform for the Marines in Vietnam, and he promises to teach them what they need to succeed—a mastery of soul music and strong performing skills. Along the way, the trio reunites with their long-lost cousin Kay (Shari Sebbens), who, like many fair-skinned Aborigine children, was taken from the mission by the government when she was younger and placed with a white family.

Vietnam is a significant departure for the girls, although they quickly take to performing and the adulation of the crowds (not to mention the soldiers). Along the way, they deal with jealousy, Gail's need to control everything around her, some unresolved feelings of resentment and guilt between Kay and Gail, and the growing attraction between Dave and Gail. And when the enemy attacks the base where The Sapphires are performing, tragedy strikes, and the girls realize that everything else isn't nearly as important as their love for one another.

The plot may be a little predictable and a little hokey at times, but the characters' personalities, the performances (particularly O'Dowd, Mailman, and Mauboy), and the musical numbers elevate the movie to an utterly charming, uproariously funny, and moving experience. And this is a true story; the script is co-written by the son of one of the women in the group.

If you're looking for a wonderfully fun and heartwarming movie that will totally captivate you, I hope you'll be able to catch The Sapphires at a theater in your area. And I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

Book Review: "All You Could Ask For" by Mike Greenberg

I've watched ESPN's Mike and Mike in the Morning, so I'm familiar with Mike Greenberg's on-air persona. I'm a fan of his, but I'll tell you, nothing could have prepared me for his utter mastery in writing a novel which has as its primary characters three women—Brooke, who was raised to be exactly what she is, the perfect suburban housewife, married to her college sweetheart and raising twins; Samantha, the emotionally fragile yet physically tough-as-nails athlete, whose whirlwind marriage ends shortly after it begins; and Katherine, the most powerful female executive on Wall Street, who has been working for years for the man who broke her heart.

The first half of Greenberg's pretty fantastic novel, All You Could Ask For, spins the stories of these three women. While their stories don't quite reach Sex and the City-type adventures, each character has her own strength and quirks, and Greenberg hits all of their voices quite well, without slipping into stereotypical female traits or behaviors. Nothing that happens to any of them is earth-shattering or unique, but each character is tremendously engaging that you want to know what will happen next. Will Brooke find the right place to have the naked pictures of her taken so she can give them to her husband on his 40th birthday? Will Samantha take her philandering husband back, or will she embark on another magical relationship while training for a triathlon in Hawaii? And will Katherine be able to let her guard down enough to find emotional happiness?

SPOILERS AHEAD (although some of this has been mentioned in certain book reviews).

The three women meet in an online support group for breast cancer survivors. Each woman has a different diagnosis and a different way of handling the disease and its effects, and also approaches her relationship with the other women in a different way. The second half of the book deals with the unanswered questions that follow a cancer diagnosis and treatment, the differing emotions each person experiences and the choices they make, and what happens next. It is sometimes emotional, sometimes perplexing, sometimes hopeful, but Greenberg does his best to be matter-of-fact in his storytelling without being maudlin, and for me, none of the notes he hit seemed at all false.

I know I read fast, but I literally read this book in about two and a half hours this evening. That's how much these characters appealed to me even though I'm not a woman, and that's how emotionally invested I found myself. Mike Greenberg's writing doesn't wow you, but it pulls you in. It makes you imagine these three women at the different points in their lives, and I just needed to know what came next. Greenberg's voice seemed so authentic; this isn't a man writing the way he'd want a woman to behave, this is a man observant enough to know how they behave, how they speak, and how they act, and that adds to this book's appeal.

I've said many times I know I've enjoyed a book tremendously when I wonder what happened to the characters after the book ended. That was definitely the case with this book. I was moved, I was entertained, and I was hooked, and I'm thankful to have found this book. I hope others find it equally as enjoyable.

Book Review: "Schroder: A Novel" by Amity Gaige

Eric Kennedy (maybe a distant cousin of those Kennedys) grew up in a small Massachusetts town, not far from Hyannis Port, and had a perfectly idyllic New England childhood. He met the love of his life, Laura, when she was helping a young boy who had fallen out of a tree and broke his wrist, and the two had a loving, passionate relationship, culminating in the birth of their daughter, Meadow. And while Eric wasn't always the most traditional father, he doted on Meadow, allowing her to pursue whatever adventures and ask whatever questions she wanted, and if sometimes that meant taking Meadow to an AA meeting (in support of a friend) or keeping a decomposing fox nearby so she understood the process, he did it all in love.

When Eric and Laura's marriage goes sour and the two separate, Eric is still so much in love with Laura he willingly allows her to become Meadow's main custodial parent, because he thinks his willingness to do what Laura wants will win her back. But it leaves him with visits with Meadow on alternate weekends and periodic Wednesdays, which starts to chafe him after a while, so he does what any good parent should do—try and fight for his daughter. And when he finds that fight hampered by a poor evaluation from a child custody expert, and his words and actions are turned against him, he finds himself left with no choice. One day, he and Meadow embark on a road trip—but they don't come back. They flee Albany headed for Canada, but wind up holed up in a cabin on Lake Champlain, and then continuing to flee the authorities for a few days.

In a letter to Laura, Eric looks back on his life, his actions, his love for both his daughter and his estranged wife, and his childhood. And it is in this confessional diatribe that Eric reveals a key fact: Eric Kennedy isn't a real person, nor is the Massachusetts town he says he grew up in. He's actually Erik Schroder, a West German illegal emigree, who fled to the U.S. with his father when he was seven, and grew up poor in Dorchester, Massachusetts. He changed his name as a teenager and never really looked back on that part of his life.

I felt that this story had a great deal of promise—a father's impulsive but deep love for his daughter, a man's invented identity, a life lived on the lam—but it never hooked me. Part of the reason for this is because while you can be sympathetic to Eric's motives, he is a generally unsympathetic character. His confessional letter to Laura is filled with declarations of love and explanations of his actions, from falsifying his identity to kidnapping his daughter, but it also contains a tremendous number of non-sequiturs on German history, Eric's "research" (on the famous pauses in history, moments when nothing really happened), and other items that failed to catch my attention. And Laura remains a shadowy character on the margin of the story; you're left to surmise how she feels and reacts but you never see it.

There was a lot packed into this book of under 300 pages, and the story never flowed for me. In the end, I didn't care what happened to Eric, and I just wanted his journey—both real and figurative—to end.

The balcony is closed...

Roger Ebert was one of the reasons I love movies so much. I remember when I was growing up, watching him and Gene Siskel debating the latest cinematic highs and lows on At the Movies, and I loved the way both men were respectful when they criticized a movie. Oscar junkie that I am, I relished their annual show, If We Picked the Oscars, during which they'd dissect all of the year's nominees, even talk about what they thought was the least deserving nominee and what they viewed was the biggest snub that year. (I rarely watched Ebert's show though after Siskel's death in 1999, partly out of loyalty to Gene, and partly because I wasn't much of a Richard Roeper fan.)

Although I didn't see him regularly on television, I always kept up with his reviews, reading his annual Movie Yearbooks like they were magazines, and in later days, following his blog and Twitter feed.

Ebert's death earlier today has left me feeling a little melancholy. His courageous battle against thyroid and jaw cancer, which left him unable to speak, didn't dull his cinematic insights, his love of the movies, or his trademark wit. He was the first film critic to win the Pulitzer Prize and also the first to have a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Earlier this week he announced he'd be taking what he called a "leave of presence" from his regular reviewing duties to begin radiation treatment to combat the latest recurrence of his cancer. The closing sentence on his final blog post, two days before his death, said, "So on this day of reflection I say again, thank you for going on this journey with me. I'll see you at the movies."

The spotlights are a little duller tonight, and those of us who admired his zeal for film are a little sadder. But just think how lucky we are to have had a balcony seat near his for all these years, soaking up his love for the movies. As I said on Facebook earlier today, if there's any justice, he and Gene Siskel are together now, catching up on all the films they weren't able to discuss.

RIP, Roger. And with that, the balcony is forever closed.

Book Review: "Reconstructing Amelia" by Kimberly McCreight

Wow, I thought this was pretty fantastic.

Kate Baron is a successful attorney and single mother of Amelia, a bright, witty, and talented sophomore at a prestigious New York private school. One day Kate is summoned out of a meeting and is asked to come to Amelia's school immediately—she has been caught cheating and faces significant academic penalties. This seems completely out of character for Amelia, but by the time Kate makes it to the school, things have gotten much worse. Amelia jumped from the roof of the school, an act of impulsive suicide motivated by her guilt.

Or at least that's what school officials and the police tell Kate. And while she tries to make sense of all that has happened, and relives recent interactions with Amelia to try and understand what motivated her actions, she is rocked by an anonymous text message:

Amelia didn't jump.

This text message sends Kate into a tailspin, desperate to believe her daughter didn't cheat or commit suicide, but she is afraid of what she'll find out. And the further she digs into Amelia's emails, Facebook and blog posts, text messages, and journal entries, she finds out all that Amelia was going through—and all of the people who might have had a hand in either driving her to suicide or causing her death.

This book is like a combination of Pretty Little Liars and Gossip Girl crossed with an episode of Law and Order, but for the most part, it doesn't feel overly dramatic or false. The biggest tragedy about this book is that so many of the things that occurred could and probably do happen among teenagers in private and public schools. Kimberly McCreight is an excellent writer who keeps the twists and turns coming full speed ahead, but she knows when to throttle back and not take the plot down too melodramatic a path.

Reconstructing Amelia is a book about friendship, romance, love between parent and child, and forging your own identity. It's also a book about the dangers of keeping secrets and the need to feel you fit in. It hooked me from start to finish, and although I ultimately was sad, I really marveled at the power of McCreight's storytelling ability. Read this.

Cool cover song of the week...

I've written countless times before that I am a child of the 80s, despite the fact I wasn't a child when the 80s ended. (Hadn't really thought of that before. Hmm...) But regardless of semantics, 80s music still tends to be one of the most resonant genres for me, probably because it served as a backdrop for so much of my life growing up.

Like many, I was a pretty big fan of Wham! in the mid-80s. Their song Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go was tremendously memorable—I remember visiting a camp friend one weekend before my family had cable TV, and we spent most of the weekend watching MTV (remember when they used to play videos all the time?), and that video was on HEAVY rotation. So much so, that I swear we could perform the entire video after seeing it so many times!

But as much as I loved that song, I'd say my favorite Wham! song, bar none, is Careless Whisper. Maybe it was the melancholy of my teenage years, or the fact that I sang it almost constantly, but it has stuck with me all of these years. (Maybe it was the awesome sax riff?) The song topped the Billboard Hot 100 for three weeks in February 1985, and was later named Billboard's number one song of 1985.

While Careless Whisper has been covered by everyone from Bananarama and Gloria Gaynor to Barry Manilow and Kenny G, Seether's 2009 cover of the song brings a Nickelback-ish, grungy feel to it. As with most cover versions, it doesn't surpass the original, but it's still fun to listen to.

Here's Seether's version:


And to take you back down memory lane, here's the original:


Check out my previous Cool Cover Songs of the Week:

Borderline by The Counting Crows

How Deep Is Your Love by The Bird and The Bee

Life in a Northern Town by Sugarland, Little Big Town, and Jake Owen

I Don't Want to Talk About It by The Indigo Girls

Only You by Joshua Radin

Pure Imagination by Maroon 5

I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles) by Blake Stratton

What a Fool Believes by Neri Per Caso

Poker Face by Daughtry

Back to Black by Ronnie Spector

I Will Survive by Cake

The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face by The Stereophonics

Rolling in the Deep by John Legend

Go Your Own Way by Lissie

Winner Takes it All by McFly

What a Wonderful World by Joey Ramone