Crazy, Stupid Love. Reviewed

I rarely go to the movies. I guess I just never got in the habit growing up. Movies are definitely the weak spot in my pop culture database.

This is not to say that I don't like movies because I do. I see commercials all the time for movies I'd like to see. I just never do.

Anyway, a friend called Saturday and said she was interested in seeing a movie. My response: How about Crazy, Stupid Love? The trailers made it look funny. It definitely fell in the category of movies I wanted to see, but was too lazy to do. But now I didn't have an excuse not to see it.

Obviously, the big stars of the movie are Steve Carell, Julianne Moore, Ryan Gosling, and Emma Stone with Kevin Bacon and Marissa Tomei and a small dose of Josh Groban adding to the hilarity. And they're all great.

Carell plays Cal and Moore plays Emily, his wife. The movie begins with Emily telling Cal she slept with a co-worker and wants a divorce. That doesn't sound funny, but it is! His physical response to the news had me giggling out loud.

But this movie isn't just about the adults.

Cal and Emily's son, Robbie and his babysitter, played by America's Next Top Model's Analeigh Tipton, also have substantial parts and probably have even more screen time than Emma Stone. Their storyline is funny, sweet and a little (hilariously) uncomfortable.

Actually, the whole movie is funny and sweet and a little (hilariously) uncomfortable. Gosling plays a womanizer, who takes Cal under his wing. While Cal goes along with the plan, he never really forgets his wife, and she doesn't forget him.

I really enjoyed the little comedic surprises that popped up throughout the movie. Every time I was like, "Oh that was funny! I didn't expect that to happen."

And, as an extra bonus, the music used was cool, too.

In short: I loved Crazy, Stupid Love. It was definitely worth me breaking my "don't get off the couch" way of living.

P.S.  Gosling's character has a move that he uses on the ladies. Yeah, it would have totally worked on me. lol. :)

Jam Of The Week

Hot Chelle Rae's Tonight Tonight

This song is my jam. When I hear it on the radio, I turn it up and start dancing even when I'm in my car. The song isn't serious or meaningful. It's all about having a good time. And sometimes that's all that I need in a song. I've never heard another song from this band, so I have no idea how talented they are or if they'll ever have another hit.

But like the song says, "La la la, whatever, la la la, it doesn’t matter, la la la, oh well, la la la."

I love, love the bridge when they break it down and my booty starts shaking even more.

Fave line - "Even the white kids!"

Enjoy!

A Music Channel that Actually Plays Music - Seriously!

Maybe everyone has heard of Palladia and I'm just seriously late to the party. It's happened before. But since it's new to me, I had to share. I "discovered" Palladia few months ago. It's an HD channel grouped with MTV AND VH1 in the channel listing in my cable system. As we all know, MTV and VH1 stopped caring about music a long time ago, so I'm ecstatic that Palladia exists.

All those MTV Unplugged and VH1 Storytellers episodes? They've found a home on Palladia.* Since I figured out the channel was there and what it was, I've watched concerts featuring Lady Gaga, Adele, Usher, Sara Bareilles, Kanye West, and Cee-lo Green. And those are just the ones that immediately popped into my head. There are more.

I watched a documentary chronicling the lead-up to the release of Beyonce's latest album 4. It was fascinating to watch if only to hear her talk about why she decided to relieve her father of his managerial duties. She said she wanted to gain more control over her career. Is that spin? I'm sure to a certain extent it is, but as Beyonce is very private and doesn't publicly address issues like this often, it was nice to get an explanation directly from her.

A few weeks ago, I watched Madonna's Truth or Dare. Although it's twenty years old, I'd never seen it. I was fascinated.

Madonna seems remarkably unaffected by her fame. I kept wondering if she did a sequel today would she still come across that way. She did a show in Michigan and said she loved being home, which is funny because she basically makes England home now and people make fun of her for faking a British accent.

Also, I loved how she said she found it weird that celebrities assumed a level of friendship with her and other celebrities just because they happened to be famous.

Anywho, I make it a point to stop by Palladia to see what they're showing when I'm channel surfing. For those who don't care about the pop and R&B scene, they show a lot of other stuff like country, classic rock (there was a ZZ Top concert on a few days ago), and indie rock music. I'm not into bands like Mumford & Sons, but if you are, know Palladia isn't ignoring them.

And they show videos, too. As someone who was raised on BET, this makes my heart happy.

Basically, Palladia has something for everybody. Yay for its existence! It's totally epic and awesome.

*Funny enough when I went to Palladia's website, I saw that it was owned by MTV and VH1. Guess that explains why the channel has the rights to air all those old concerts. And maybe why MTV and VH1 are fine with airing so little music these days.

Tuesday Links

OK, so last week was bad. I didn't blog. I was busy and lazy. I could've done the links and Jam of the Week only, but I felt like that was cheating.

I'll tell you later on in the week what I was doing. (How's that for a big market tease?) I promise to do better with the blogging this week. And now that I've typed that, I actually have to do it.

In the mean time, here are the Tuesday Links.

1. Still mad about Netflix's price hikes? Well, Walmart has jumped in the game. Better yet, there's a relief fund for white people who love GAP khakis.

2. College athletes don't get paid, but schools and conferences make MILLIONS off them anyway. And some student-athletes do get paid and the schools get into all kinds of trouble when it's discovered. This guy thinks we should just end the charade and pay star student-athletes out in the open. Hmm. Maybe I'll blog my thoughts on the subject someday.

3. This video is just too funny. A Dad turns into the Double Rainbow Guy at a Little League game.

4. Any Mad Men fans? An  enterprising fellow took some time to do an unofficial remake of the opening credits.

5. Love this column about the time-honored tradition in baseball of trading talented, proven players for a gaggle of prospects who may or may not develop into Major Leaguers. It seems like a good idea, but I'd rather have the proven player.

6. Want to know who invented the high five? Yeah, you do.

7. This twitter exchange makes me giggle. Over and over.

8. An NFL player demonstrates his love for his wife through song.

9. So you already know I love nostalgia. Or my 80s and 90s versions of it anyway. I worshiped Saved By the Bell, so this video of White Collar's Matt Bomer doing the Bayside cheer melts my heart. And this columnist is crazy for being mad at Zack. She should totally be mad at Kelly for breaking Zack's heart!

And speaking of nostalgia...

10. Kenny Ortega plans to direct a remake of Dirty Dancing. Sigh. I love Ortega. He was Dirty Dancing's choreographer, and since this is my favorite movie, I knew that and adored him for it. He also choreographed Ferris Bueller's Day Off and Shag, two movies I also love. He directed High School Musical, which I think is supercute. And I haven't mentioned that he choreographed Michael Jackson's tours. So yeah, I have mad love for Ortega. But WHY he is remaking a movie that is so classic and iconic? Leave it alone, Kenny! Even Baby agrees!

Jam Of The Week

Sade's By Your Side

Sunday I had the privilege of attending a Sade concert. A friend invited me and I jumped at the opportunity.

I'm not going to front like I'm a huge Sade fan and have all her CDs. I know who she is and have a few of her songs on the old iPod, but that's about it. I went because I love concerts, and I was curious to see what Sade, who's been around a long time doing her thing of mellow R&B, would do. I also relished the chance to become more exposed to her music. She doesn't do the loud banging hip hop music (which I like by the way - sometimes) so she doesn't get played on the radio much or at least not the stations playing the latest hits.

With that said, I immensely enjoyed the concert. I knew it wasn't going to be a raucous affair, and it wasn't. Instead, she sang her butt off and the band played their butts off.

In addition to becoming more exposed to her music, I wanted to find a few songs to download to add to my Sade collection. I am the nerdiest, so I took notes during the show, of course. Then, I had to choose which one would be the Jam of the Week. After a ton of back and forth, I went with By Your Side. It's a gorgeous song with a very sweet, uplifting message. When I need to chill, I could totally put this on repeat.

But really you can't go wrong with any of her songs. Hope you enjoy.

Tuesday Links

1. In the grand tradition of Hollywood not being able to come up with any new ideas, apparently there are two new Snow Whites being filmed. Let the death match begin. Comic-Con was the perfect place to release photos from the Kristen Stewart/Charlize Theron version. Of course, that was two WHOLE days after photos from the Lily Collins/Julia Roberts version were released.

OK, I'll be nice and say the two movies really do look and sound different. Only time will tell if that's true and which version is better.

2. I've been listening to Adele's 21 A LOT the past few months. Yesterday, I stumbled across a track by track explanation of the CD Adele does on her website. Very cool to watch. Be warned though. Adele has a potty mouth.

3. Yankees' player, Curtis Granderson, who is black, says he's concerned that he doesn't see many black faces in the crowd at games. ESPN writer LZ Granderson doesn't think MLB has a problem. Yes, there are fewer blacks, but there are a lot of Hispanic and Asian players adding to the diversity of players.

My quick take: I agree with Curtis. All sports want to attract the best athletes and compete with each other to do so. If fewer blacks grow up watching the sport, then fewer will choose the sport to play, including the world's best athletes. Those fantastic athletes will choose football or basketball or soccer or whatever instead. Baseball misses out. There's no guarantee that they would choose baseball over football, but how can they ever get to that place of deciding whether or not baseball is their first choice if baseball never enters the equation?

4. One of my old bosses sent me an invitation to join his Fantasy Football League. I've never done it because my stomach turns at the prospect of having to cheer on a hated Giant or Eagle. Gross. BUT for those who do like to partake, here's a Draft Day Manifesto that should help you assemble the best team possible.

Is the NFL Lockout Over Yet? Do I Care?

  Thursday, the sports world was all abuzz that the NFL lockout would be over soon. The owners had approved the collective bargaining agreement. Now we were just were waiting on the players to do the same. Except they didn't. I could get into the whys and whynots, but that's not the point of this post.

I met the news with a big yawn. It's now Monday and it appears the lockout is all but over. I'm still not ready to drop to my knees in gratitude.

After last season ended and the lockout became official, so-called experts were wringing their hands, claiming that a portion of the season (or even the whole season) might be lost because of the dispute. I was never one of those people.

The NFL isn't in trouble. The league couldn't lose money if it tried. Football has replaced baseball as America's pastime. It is a nine billion dollar industry. Let me say that again.  NINE BILLION DOLLARS. All the players and owners are fighting about is how much money each side receives, not whether there is money actually being made.

It would make both sides look extremely silly, selfish, and self-involved if the start of the season was delayed because millionaires and billionaires were fighting about money.

I know ESPN has 24 hours to fill, but the constant gnashing of teeth and wringing of hands perplexed and ultimately annoyed me. I would have been concerned only if the lockout lingered into mid-August. But I knew it wouldn't.

Besides, it's not like we were missing games and that's what I'm interested in. The only thing we fans missed out on were free agent signings (and we'll still have that - just in a compressed amount of time). I'm sure there are people who watch these moves with intense interest. I don't. Yes, I like to know who the Cowboys sign, but that takes at most 5 minutes in a day.

Call me when the games start.

I live in the season. I've always been this way. While this NFL mess was going on, I had the NBA (Yay, Mavericks!), baseball, tennis, and the Women's World Cup to focus on. I don't have a favorite sport, so I'm just as happy watching basketball or baseball as I am football.

Am I happy the lockout is about to be over? Yes, absolutely. But let's not pretend it's a miracle that the owners and players were able to come to an agreement on how to split money so they can all stay rich.

Gone Too Soon

Yesterday, I logged on to Twitter as is my habit. One of the first tweets I read mentioned an Amy. I thought Amy who? Immediately, I looked at the trending topics. #amywinehouse was one of them. I looked back at my timeline and got a sinking feeling as someone tweeted how ridiculous it was for people to say they were tired of talking about Amy and wanted to go back to talking about the debt ceiling.

My heart sank further. I went to Yahoo and had my worst suspicions confirmed. She'd died. With sadness, I read her obituary and went back to Twitter. A few people commented that they weren't surprised and that it was inevitable.

While I understand why they said that (and I know they weren't trying to be mean), I'm glad I don't share their viewpoint. I was shocked when I found out.

I know Amy led a very hard life, but I always hold out hope that people can turn their lives around. It should never be too late.

Unfortunately for Amy, it was, but maybe not the next person. I never want to lose that faith in people and the human spirit.

Rest in peace, Amy. May those who need help find the strength to seek it out.

Jam of the Week...Drums, Please

I had such an easy time picking out this week's Jam of the Week. I love when that happens. If all goes according to plan, today will be the 21st STRAIGHT day of 100 degree weather. In other words, it's a typical summer in Dallas/Fort Worth, which makes this week's Jam of the Week totally appropriate.

Summertime by DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince

I love this song. The memories it conjures up of being a kid, just having fun hanging out, playing outside or running when you heard the ice cream truck coming down the street and NOT having to go to school are priceless. Those were the days.

The song has a cool groove that you can't help but bob your head to. It's probably the last "cool" song the Fresh Prince released. The Fresh Prince never was a "hard" rapper, and he became supremely uncool as the hard or "gangsta," a term I've always hated) rappers became the norm in the 90s.

But still, even those who call him corny love this song because they can relate to everything in the song regardless of how or where they grew up.

It's a classic.

Already Missing Borders

I absolutely adore reading. I don't even want to think about the amount of money I (and my mom while I was growing up) have spent on books over the years.

A few days ago, Borders announced that they were going out of business. Maybe I was burying my head in the sand, but I was really hoping Borders would pull through. Needless to say, I was and still am devastated.

My first thought was, "Where am I going to buy books now?" because Borders is my preferred bookstore.

Then, I mentally catalogued my alternatives. And boy, that was depressing.

1. Buy books online. Yeah, but it's nearly impossible to replicate the joy of discovery I get at a bricks and mortar store online. Any time I go awhile without going to Borders, I end up saying to myself I need to visit a real bookstore. There's something about walking into one and seeing thousands of books just waiting for me in all their pretty glory. Oh, the possibilities of what I can read and discover by browsing the aisles.

Also, sometimes it's hard keeping up with authors, but to go to the romance section and see that a few of my favorites have new releases - Hallelujah! Or maybe there's a pretty cover that catches my eyes from a new author. I flip it over, fall in love with the blurb and buy the book on the spot.

2. Buy ebooks. I do have a Kobo, which I really like, but I still prefer print books, especially for an author whose books I've been collecting for years. At this point, I mainly use the ereader for library books and digital first books.

3. Buy books from Target and Walmart. Yeah, I can and often do, but let's face it, they're not bookstores. They have a pretty decent selection of romances, but the selections, in no way, compare to those at a dedicated bookstore. They can't. That new author I mentioned earlier? Her books probably aren't going to be in Target because she's an unknown risk.

4. So Barnes & Noble, right? Yes, I can go to Barnes & Noble, but I never liked that B&N made you pay to be a member of its discount club. Borders didn't. Borders also sent out weekly coupons making it a little easier to part with my hard-earned money. B&N doesn't.

In other words, Borders makes me happy. Barnes & Noble doesn't. Sigh

My solution? I guess I'll be doing a combination of all the choices with buying books at Target/Walmart and online leading the way.

The closing of Borders leaves a hole in the publishing industry that I'm not sure can be filled completely. Regardless, I guess I've got to get with the times because the times will always march forward - with or without me.

Tuesday Links

1. It seriously sucked that the U.S. Women's National Team lost the World Cup. Seriously. But I'm happy to see that the game took over Twitter and dominated TV ratings. Yay women's sports and soccer! 2. Netflix pissed off a bunch of their subscribers this week by jacking up the price 60%. Here are some alternatives. This story offers alternatives, too.

3. Law & Order: SVU takes another hit. I'm not sure I'm going to recognize a show I was once obsessed with.

4. Rashard Mendenhall is suing a company for ending his endorsement deal after his controversial tweets about Osama Bin Laden and 9/11. Based on these tweets and some of his others, he sounds like a real winner.  Sarcasm intended.

5. Virginia Tech researched football helmet safety. The results are scary.

Childhood favorites, please take center stage.

6. Captain Planet is being made into a live-action movie. Now this is a superhero movie I can get behind! Just please keep the theme song. Captain Planet, he's our hero. Gonna take pollution down to zero.

7. Hey, Dude hits DVD today. I freaking loved this show. I thought the kids were so cool.

8. Even better, Teen Nick will start airing old Nickelodeon shows next Monday.

Jam of the Week

Marsha Ambrosius' Late Nights, Early Mornings

For the past couple of months, I've been listening to Marsha Ambrosius' CD Late Nights, Early Mornings nonstop, so I thought it more than appropriate to feature one of the songs on the CD as the Jam of the Week. The only problem is there's more than one worthy candidate.

I finally settled on Late Nights, Early Mornings because it is very appropriate to my budding career as a romance writer. The song is very sexy as are my books. These are the feelings I try to convey when I write. The song definitely sets the mood. ♥ :) ♥

The video also has a much appreciated safe sex message. My characters always practice safe sex and I don't appreciate it when it's not addressed in some manner in other contemporary novels.

And yeah, most importantly, I just love the song. I hope you do, too!

P. S. Oh, oh, oh! How could I forget the most important part of the video?!! The hot guy! His name is George Something or Other. He's a football player. A HOT football player. I've almost cast him as my hero a few times, but he hasn't been quite right. I'm thinking it's time that he is right. I mean, how could he ever be wrong?