Each time I visit downtown Burbank, I usually glance at the portraits of film stars surrounding the local movie house with a special twinge of nostalgia and child-like glee. There are the Ghostbusters! And there, smouldering as Othello, is my beloved Laurence Fishburne, calling me to join him with those spellbinding eyes.

But for the past few ( Read more... )

It was 1987, and I was a girl.

Sometimes it feels like it's still 1987 somewhere, and I'm still a girl falling in love with Patrick Swayze, like every other female I knew.  Young or old, it didn't seem to matter - the man could move.  He had a grace that was hard to match; most men had no chance, and most women envied his flow and charm.  And why ( Read more... )

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My God, the talent in this man knows no boundaries. Absolutely none.

Jermaine Jackson broke my heart today, and I'm glad. The talking heads and Ms. Mariah Carey with her typical plunging neckline were negligible. The contributions of his friends and family - I think they'll stick with me for a while.

I look forward to watching his kids grow up, and it looks like they have a lot of love around them right now. When it ( Read more... )

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It is so difficult to speak at the service of someone you love, let alone sing - and sing so very beautifully. Whenever I hear this song now, and maybe for the rest of my life, I will hear Jermaine Jackson singing it as he does in this clip.

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We should all be so lucky to have such a speaker at our funerals.

Michael Jackson was one of the glittering music gods of my childhood, shining in a constellation that came to include Prince, Madonna, Cyndi Lauper, Tina Turner, Boy George, Billy Idol, and many other fabulous musicians and showmen.  These were truly "glitterati," covered in brilliant makeup, wild hair, glimmering jewels and flashy fabrics.  How ( Read more... )

I cannot bear the thought of Patrick Swayze suffering pancreatic cancer.  I just can't.  I nearly burst into tears over the paper I was writing when I found out and for the longest time I could hear him singing "She's Like the Wind" in my head.  I grew up watching him, admiring him, loving him like the rest of the girls near my age; it was one of ( Read more... )

Chief Marie Smith Jones, the last native speaker of Eyak, died today.   What I liked best about her obituary is that it is fully aware of the sadness that comes with losing a language that a people once shared, but it is determined to pay homage to a "fiercely, fiercely, fiercely independent" woman.  With little word choices and phrases, the ( Read more... )

I first discovered Luciano Pavarotti when I was about 10, during Christmastime. I was at my father's house as I was forced to be nearly every holiday due to custody arrangements and my mother's work schedule. I tended to feel like the outsider there, the only one with dark hair and eyes, the kid who lived in an apartment while my father bragged ( Read more... )