Maybe he dropped the phone when he saw her number written on the wall

Not since Tommy Tutone's 867-5309 has a song about a telephone been stuck in my head, that is until last year when I saw/heard Shy Child perform Drop the Phone.

I couldn't care less about fashion shows and you'll never catch me sitting at my computer watching people strutting down a regular old catwalk, but this video makes me smile every time. Whoever came up with the idea to have models teetering around a slick stage in skyscraper heels in an effort to win a game of live music-musical chairs at the 2008 Stella McCartney show should get a raise.

None of the models fall, if that's what you're hoping for. In fact they all look to be having a great time and even become quite competitive near the end. Note the projected "play/arrow" and "stop/square" icons projected onto the screen above the stage. Simple and brilliant details like that remind me not to over-think things in my own design work, and really in life itself. My 2nd favorite F-word is Fun, after all.


The lady in the crowd, dancing in her seat at 1:26 is totally me, every time I hear this song.

Had I heard this on the radio without the combined cleverness of the video, I don't know if I would've given the song a fair chance with all that 80's keyboard electronica stuff. They're linked together in my mind, though, and I really do love it. You might not think it's your kind of music when you first hear it, but if you watch/listen to the whole thing twice before making your judgement, I bet you'd like it. I've had it in constant rotation since I bought it and now even my nephews dig it. They're teenagers, so you know, I must be the cool aunt. As if you had any doubt about that.

Drop the Phone is such a great get-off-your-ass-and-get-something-done-today song, so that's what I'm going to do. I have company coming tonight for the weekend and these chairs aren't going to set themselves up in a circle!

Being "a little bit" obsessed is like being "a little bit" pregnant. I'm only one of those 2 things.

I've been a little bit obsessed with Ricky Gervais since seeing the original version of The Office in 2003. I can't help but love everything he does. When I heard he was doing podcasts, I couldn't get on board fast enough. I'm sure it's because he makes me laugh so much I cry, and for so long that eventually no sound comes out of my mouth like a movie scene in which I'm playing the mime-- sans beret and imaginary glass box. Whatever he does, I want to experience because laughing is one of my very favorite things to do, and I try to get as much of it worked into the hours of the day as possible.

In 2007, I watched the last episode of the 2nd season of his show Extras on DVD. Approximately one minute into this scene with David Bowie, I laughed so hard I spit out my wine. Seriously.

Double-click on either 'play' arrow if you have trouble viewing video


"Little fat man who sold his soul, little fat man who sold his dream..."

Even though Ricky Gervais wrote the lyrics to this song in the script, Davie Bowie has a history doing this sort of thing with the new people he meets. After all, he did write that song about Blue Jean. You know, the girl with a camouflaged face and no money. But never mind her. Back to the subject at hand.

When I saw this clip of Ricky on one of my other favorite BBC shows (The F Word; the "F" stands for FOOD!), with one of my other favorite British men (Gordon Ramsey), it was all I could do to not crawl into the screen and join them. Unfortunately I can't embed the clip, so to see another side of Gordon Ramsey than the cranky one you see on Kitchen Nightmares, you should click HERE to check it out. Go on, do it! They're so good together, especially starting at 1:55 into the clip when Gordon asks Ricky how he would market some oddly-named products. Two words: Sexy Rabbit. Two more words: Black Spunk. If that doesn't get you to click on the link, I don't know what will.

Now that you've experienced some of what I enjoy about RG, I give you the following outtakes from an AP interview promoting Ricky Gervais' upcoming appearance on Sesame Street. Maybe you can see why, when I watched this eleventy-hundred times in a row yesterday, I actually proclaimed it to be the best thing I've ever seen in my entire life:


"Elmo wants this tape!"

I don't know whose laugh makes me laugh harder, Gervais or Elmo. I love them so much I want to marry them. Hopefully Jeremy won't mind sharing me with a brilliant Brit, a muppet and sometimes Gordon Ramsey. Well, would you look at that! It seems that I'm not nearly as picky as my mom thinks I am. 

Possibly America's new theme song, definitely mine

I have a lot to say about a lot of things but I'm waiting for some kind of outcome/resolution... so in the meantime, I've been breathing deeply, reflecting and trying to keep from banging my head against a brick wall. There was a breaking point this weekend and one of my all-time favorite jams came to mind.

My old friend Scooter (she of "half-n-falf" and "MY Alan Thicke?" fame) & I used to exchange mix tapes throughout high school & college. We both like a wide-range of music and on any one tape there would anyone from Lionel Richie to Pearl Jam to Bad Boy Bill (back when all his stuff was underground). One of the first tapes she sent me after we went away to separate state universities had Father MC/Jodeci's "Everything's Gonna Be Alright" on it, and I couldn't play that song enough. I have it on my iPod now and have been using it as my mantra.

It seems these days, what with the incessant reporting on the state of the economy, unemployment and all the other stress-factors, America needs a theme song. I would love for Obama to start playing this at the top of every press conference & public address. If NPR, CNN & Fox News would replace 6 minutes of their chatter about how things around us are falling apart with this song, I really feel like it would help instill some small seed of confidence that things will eventually turn around. Getting pegged in the noggin all day & night with negativity takes a toll.

So here it is, my gift to you. I hope if you have something eating away at you (be it the economy, your job or anything else causing you stress) that you can get Jodeci's voice--the hook of this 1992 gem-- in your head and let it play over & over when you feel your blood pressure rising. Sometimes you just need somebody to tell you that everything will be okay, and if they invite you to dance it out in the same conversation... even better!

Breathe. Everything's gonna be alright.



See ya moving baby, yeah
And you're lookin good, said you're lookin fine
Everything's gonna be alright, yeah
Let the music take control of your body tonight
Whoa, everything's gonna be alright, it's gonna be alright
Let the music take control of your body tonight