Hump Day & Chill

No Explanation Need

Today's Hump Day & Chill word is meditate. That's correct Minions for the first time in a while I feel calm and hopeful about the world around me. While I know I am a tad late to the table with this, a large part of these good vibes are because it's official Biden/Harris are going to be in office soon!

In fact, they are Time Magazine's Person Of The Year! Imagine that? Well actually you don't have to, it's a reality. We've all collectively got a lot of work to do in these next four years, but at least we can breathe easier, and, well meditate.

So take some time and Hump Day & Chill for yourself and the world by letting loose your wonderful positivity into the universe.

Just do it! 

Meditation on Wikipedia -

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meditation   

A Star Is Born

With Stars In Their Eyes
Bradley Cooper & Lady Gaga

OK, a star really hasn't been born, more like rebooted, Lady Gaga 3.0, or is it 4.0? Anyone?

While the initial trailer online for this opus was, to me a neutral affair, the reviews from the Venice Film Festival have been anything but. 

Everyone is going gonzo for Gaga & Bradley Cooper in what is the 4th take on a timeless theme and film. 

Here are some quotes from those in the know who have seen it at the Fest -

Owen Gleiberman, Variety:

"A Star Is Born is that thing we always yearn for but so rarely get to see: a transcendent Hollywood movie."

 Stephanie Zacharek, Time:

"Cooper’s version proves there’s always a way to freshen up old material."

 Peter Bradshaw, the Guardian:

"He appears opposite a sensationally good Lady Gaga, whose ability to be part ordinary person, part extraterrestrial celebrity empress functions at the highest level at all times… Cooper is arguably prettier than Lady Gaga, but she is the one who commands your attention: that sharp, quizzical, leonine, mesmeric face—an uningratiating face, very different from the wide-eyed openness of Streisand or Garland."

With the film opening October 5th, Warner Brothers suits obviously knew it was going to get good reviews. Thus they showed it out of competition the Venice Film Festival to create buzz.

You'd better work!

A Star Is Born on IMDB:
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1517451/  

Billie Holiday Honored

The Great Billie Holiday!

PHILADELPHIA MUSIC ALLIANCE

TO CELEBRATE BILLIE HOLIDAY CENTENNIAL

AS 1^st 2015 INDUCTEE ON PHILADELPHIA MUSIC WALK OF FAME

Read the tribute from CBS Sunday Morning

Watch Wynton Marsalis recall Billie Holiday for Time Magazine

Today one of my favorite artists, Billie Holiday would have been 100 years old as a special Birthday gift she is set to be the first 2015 inductee on the Philadelphia Music Walk of Fame. God Bless The Child...

As a special birthday gift to the woman widely considered to be one of the greatest vocalists of the 20^th century, The Philadelphia Music Alliance Walk of Fame is proud to welcome BILLIE HOLIDAY as its newest inductee today on the 100^thanniversary of her birth in the City of Brotherly Love.

Billie Holiday, aka “Lady Day,” is only the first of this year’s inductees to be announced. The Philadelphia Music Alliance (PMA) will hold a press reception in late May to announce the rest of the Walk of Fame’s Class of 2015. Holiday and the rest of the new honorees will be formally inducted together in October during ceremonies along the Avenue of the Arts.

"The Philadelphia Music Alliance wanted to present what we think is a 'perfect' birthday gift to an extraordinary vocalist, Billie Holiday, and announce her induction on her 100th birthday," said Alan Rubens, Chairman of the Philadelphia Music Alliance.  "It will be an absolute pleasure to be able to walk down Broad Street and see her name where it rightfully belongs, on the Philadelphia Music Walk of Fame, with other homegrown jazz giants like John Coltrane, Dizzy Gillespie, McCoy Tyner, and Grover Washington Jr.”  

Billie Holiday was born Elinore Harris on April 7, 1915 in Philadelphia General Hospital on Curie Boulevard in West Philadelphia. As the official marker on Lombard Street west of Broad Street from the Pennsylvania Historical Museum and Commission says, “[S]he was called the greatest jazz vocalist of her time. Starting in 1933, she recorded with Benny Goodman, Teddy Wilson, and others. Notable songs include ‘Lover Man,’ ‘Strange Fruit.’”

Holiday's voice was limited in size and range, but the emotional breadth of her singing — her ability to transmit desire and despair with utter clarity, and without sentimentality — was astonishing. Her soulful, unique singing voice and her ability to boldly turn any material that she confronted into her own music made Holiday a superstar of her time. Today, she’s remembered for her masterpieces, creativity and vivacity, as many of her songs are as well known today as they were decades ago. Holiday’s poignant voice is still considered to be one of the greatest jazz voices of all time. Though she had numerous outside influences, notably Louis Armstrong and Bessie Smith, Holiday built her reputation through her inner passion and a vocal style that was at once emotive and rugged. A vast array of singers have taken inspiration from Holiday's music and style including Diana Ross – who played her in the 1972 film "Lady Sings the Blues" – to Annie Lennox and the late Amy Winehouse.

As Philly’s own Jill Scott tells Vanity Fair: “Billie Holiday is guts. She is guts, and pain, and challenges. She is the sweetest pain…. Her voice gave me permission to have pain on a record. To convey the heart’s heart. To be able to sing songs about what is happening in society, as well. She did all this with a lot of freedom. There wasn’t a bunch of production. It was just Billie Holiday, being herself. All the miseries and all the wounds, and then reporting it, basically, to society. That is an artist. There is a difference between being an entertainer and an artist, and Billie Holiday is a true artist.”

The Philadelphia Music Alliance Walk of Fame is a living tribute to Philadelphia’s rich music history and a vital force unifying the city’s diverse cultural communities along the Avenue of the Arts. Holiday’s induction furthers the renewed commitment by the Philadelphia Music Alliance to shed new light on the City's cultural legacy and incredible contribution to the world of music past, present and future as a major tourist attraction. This agenda to recognize more local music greats in all genres is part of the community based, non-profit organization's overall mission to encourage the creation, celebration and historical preservation of Philadelphia music, and the foundation of a renewed commitment to schedule multiple induction ceremonies each year.

www.pmawalk.com

Margaret Cho Remembers Robin Williams

Robin Williams

"No matter what people tell you, words and ideas can change the world" - Robin Williams

I love this quote and it best sums up who Robin Williams was to me. I will never forget the impact of the laughter, joy and ideas he brought into my life. 

Words can not begin to describe how seeing The World According to Garp influenced and changed me when I was young.

I thought it best to let his life be discussed by someone who knew him well, friend and Entertain Me favorite Ms. Margaret Cho said this to Time Magazine about the passing of our Captain:

"He was the first celebrity I ever met. My parents owned a bookstore in San Francisco in the ’70s and ’80s. My father made Robin autograph a copy of The World According to Garp for me. When I started comedy in San Francisco in the ’80s, Robin would hang around the clubs I started doing shows at and grew up next to. He would always come in, and then later, of course, we would always see him in clubs here. He was the patriarch of our little clan of comedians in San Francisco. All of us looked at him, in a way, as a father figure. That’s why this is so upsetting.

He was just very supportive. He was very shy, and possibly a little embarrassed by his fame. Inside, he really was a comic. Naturally, all comics just wanna hang around other comics, so he would come to these little clubs and open mics, and you’d get bumped, and he would go on and you’d have to follow him, which was always really terrifying because he’s so great, and people were so excited to just be in his presence. Also, we were all excited to be around him. He’s the kind of guy, I remember, he would help out comics who needed money. When I was a teenager, my first boyfriend needed money to live, and he loved this guy’s comedy, so he would give people money to survive. It’s a beautiful thing. He was a great guy."

R.I.P. Oh, Captain! My Captain!

Robin Williams on IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000245/?ref_=fn_nm_nm_2