Sometimes I just feel completely plugged in to the zeitgeist. I have been listening to Surrealistic Pillow a lot lately, falling particularly hard for the dreamy and rarely played song “Today” – As I sat watching this week's TV pick, At the Movies review of A Simple Man, I was surprised to hear that exact song featured in a scene. From what I've read (have yet to see the movie, but with all the glowing reviews, look forward to it) the breakout album plays a prominent role.

While the big Grace Slick hits Somebody To Love and White Rabbit will be familiar to anyone who grew up with a classic rock station in their town, they don't represent the album other facets which are far folkier and druggier and softer.

The album was one of the most significant of the counter culture movement and brought attention and change to the Haight-Ashbury scene.

See more: Albums 1960s Classic Rock Psychedelic

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Posted on October 5, 2009

I'll start by getting the unfair comparisons out of the way: Gold Diggers of 1935 is no Gold Diggers of 1933. Spending time with sassy chorus girls is far more fun than passing a couple of hours with a miserly rich family and, despite impressive large scale unison tapping, meat cleaver-based choreography, and oscillating pianos, none of the grand Busby Berkeley numbers here quite compare to the mythical Pettin' in the Park or Remember My Forgotten Man – though Lullaby of Broadway is pretty fantastic.

But comparisons are unfair – Gold Diggers of 1933 is a perfect movie, my favorite of the era's genre and impossible to match, but that doesn't mean that the (kind of, sort of) sequel isn't great fun.

1935 holds almost no resemblance to the first movie except that we see Dick Powell again, only instead of a wealthy 'juvenile' with big song and dance dreams, he's a summers-only hotel clerk on his way to becoming a doctor. He falls in love with Ann Prentiss, the buttoned-up daughter of a stingy millionairess who is unhappily engaged to the film's most confusing and intriguing character, T. Mosely Thorpe III.

Also extremely wealthy, Thorpe is a happy-looking, Ben Gazzara type and exactly what's wrong with him is unclear. He rides around in a chauffeured car with an emblem of his face surrounded by thorns, he's obsessed, seemingly to an autistic degree, with snuff, and at time appears either mentally handicapped or amnesiac – sometimes both.

Musical shopping sprees and charityshows take center stage, which is more than alright with me, in this breezy, wacky, fun-loving musical. Watch for the amazing outfits worn by Thorpe's scheming typist.

See more: Movies 1930s Comedy Musicals

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Posted on October 5, 2009

All this fuss over little chipmunk Katie Couric is rather ridiculous when the real grand dame of television news is the elegant and often daringly dressed Lynne Russell. I grew up with the woman as a strong and beguiling source for melodious news information and, through the course of my research prepping this entry, have discovered that she's even more fantastic that I thought! From her site:

Yet Lynne's world is more than meets the eye. For years she has successfully balanced her journalism career and motherhood with her other “occupations”: deputy sheriff in Fulton County (Atlanta) Georgia as a jail officer, and licensed private investigator. She holds two black belts in the martial art Choi Kwang Do, and is a certified open water SCUBA diver.

All of this prompted her to write her inspirational first book, How to Win Friends, Kick Ass and Influence People (Dec. 1999, St. Martin's Press). She explores the liberating concepts of each of us appreciating and utilizing our own abilities and talents, peaceful coexistence with the opposite gender, and the celebration of “la difference!” Actor/comedian Richard Belzer says, “If Xena, warrior princess could tell her story, this would be her book.” The New York Times review quipped she's “a news anchor with the personality of a professional wrestler.”

If you weren't in love with her during the CNN years, I defy you to resist her now. She also makes beaded lampshades, has a line of makeup consisting of just one shade of red lipstick (which I'm about to purchase) and blush. Love!!!

See more: Style Icons: Female Businessmen Television Personalities

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Posted on October 5, 2009

My ignorance about current popular music is profound, so it's no surprise that my introduction to Janelle Monae was from a Refinery29 photograph of her attending fashion week. While I get updated on her musical career, I'd like to take the time now to praise her personal style, regardless of what I find her songs to be like. The girl is adorable, strong with a menswear dressing and spectacular hairdressing flair.

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Posted on September 28, 2009

Carrot cake is in the air. Both my friends Grace and Mike have baked up the veggie goody this past week. Mike used a recipe from The Barefoot Contessa that to my joy omits those pesky raisins. The frosting calls for obscene amounts of confectioners sugar and butter.

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Posted on September 28, 2009