Housewife in Hollywood - housewifeinhollywood.com

My home page is set to Yahoo because they always have a lot of fun articles and keep me in the know. I’m usually in the know about stuff I really don’t need to know about. Take this for example, the latest video by OK Go the guys that danced on a treadmill and are famous for their no-cut vids. Well that’s what the net is saying anyway. Here’s their latest very cool and obviously time consuming video “This Too Shall Pass”:

Now here’s a dude that says wait a minute I woke up early, watched the video, found hidden cuts and made a video to tell you about it on YouTube. Let’s see what he has to say:

Of course “This Too Shall Pass” is just one video going viral in the last few days and just like most viral vids, this too shall pass.

It’s a Valentine’s weekend and love is in the air. What better way to get in the mood then with 5 songs from Air Supply? Don’t answer that!

Air Supply has every phase of love covered. If you’re Lost in Love, experiencing Young Love, asking The One That You Love for another day or even All Out of Love. For those of you with a love for 70’s and 80’s love songs Air Supply will be here Now and Forever.The 5 on Friday is back this week inspired by love and full of hot Air Supply:

Lost in Love

Young Love

The One That You Love

All Out of Love

Now and Forever

Become an AIRHEAD, find tour info, and much more at the Official Air Supply site: http://www.airsupplymusic.com

Happy Valentine’s weekend!

If you need some spooky tunes to Watusi to this Halloween then transport your soul back to my interview last year with The Ghastly Ones.

You know me and my flashbacks! Who doesn’t like leftovers and what better way to reuse a post than to revisit a fun one from a year ago?

Transport yourself back to my interview with Baron Shivers from The Ghastly Ones by clicking here.

The Ghastly Ones will be signing their brand new 7inch Vinyl EP “GEARS N GHOULFINKS”  on Sunday November 8, 2009, starting 2:00 PM at Dark Delicacies  in Burbank, CA.

“…Come meet the band and get this limited edition record signed. Master Monster Hot Rod artist, THE PIZZ, who illustrated the cover, will be signing as well! Free full color die-cut sticker from POSTERPOP for the first 50 people! Dan Moses from The Dynotones and Big Tiki Dude will be spinning CD’s! “—The Ghastly Ones website

September 19th is International Talk Like a Pirate Day, and many of you may not be feeling too piratey yet. No worries! Here are 5 piratical things to help get you in the mood.

1. Pirate Attire

Some of you might want to wear your best Captain hat, while others want to go “modern day pirate” by adding just a wee bit of pirate flair. From belt buckles to pirate inspired swimwear, you can find lots of options at piratemerch.com

2. Pirate Ringtones

Nothing says I’ve changed me life for the day like a new ringtone. Check out these pirate ringtones for your cell, or midi files for your computer by clicking here.

3. Pirate Music

If you’re looking for pirate music, no need to look further than The Pirates Charles. They call themselves pirate rock specialists and I couldn’t agree more. I’ve seen these minstrels live and in person, they really rocked the ship with their pirate presence. Here’s a fan video of The Pirates Charles. If this doesn’t make you kick up yer heels and raise your whiskey high, then you haven’t an ounce of pirate soul.

4. Pirate Drinks

Pirates love to have a bottle in hand while they Arrr and Aye-Five their other mates.

From the popular Captain Morgan  fans to the “grog” enthusiasts out there looking for a micro style rum, check out this pirate favorite aptly titled Pirate’s Choice Rum.

For those of you that drink, please drink responsibly. Don’t drink, and board your ship unless a designated driver is behind the helm.

5. Pirate Lingo Lessons

Of course you need some pirate lessons so you can Talk Like a Pirate without being thrown overboard. Take a lesson or two from Cap’n Slappy and Ol Chumbucket, the creators of this international event by going to talklikeapirate.com .

In true Hollywood style we’ll end with these two mates, singing their own pirate tune Savvy! Savvy?

Elvis had me all shook up since the first time I put on my mom’s 33 of Blue Hawaii. I used to Rock a Hula all over my bedroom.

I’d lip sync and hip shake my way through every Elvis album my mom owned.

I was thrilled when she bought me my very own Elvis album, Elvis Sings for Children and Grown-ups Too.

 I played that record over and over. I cried while he sang about his dog Old Shep and I danced with my stuffed animals to Cotton Candy Land & Wooden Heart.

One day I came home from school and my mom was dusting the furniture in my bedroom with a very solemn look on her face. I asked her what was wrong and she said, “Elvis is dead.”

I found my favorite album and played Old Shep over and over. I wasn’t in a Rock a Hula mood that day. What about you? What’s your favorite Elvis album?

For all things Elvis visit http://elvis.com

Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977

Some days I begin humming a tune around the house. Usually it’s a random tune for no good reason whatsoever. Last night it was “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious”.

Just reading that word, the biggest word you’ve ever heard, makes me want to jump up and sing with my best British accent. Once I start singing songs from Mary Poppins, I can’t stop at “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious”. I catch my breath and start back up with “Chim Chim Cheree”.

Since I was doing so much Mary Poppins singing, I put up a url to the song “Feed the Birds” on Facebook and twitter. It’s a beautiful song that can bring listeners to tears in a good way with its ethereal feel and compassionate message. I remembered reading that “Feed the Birds”  was Walt Disney’s favorite song but I couldn’t remember all the information surrounding the story.

Thanks to my social media friends, I quickly found out that the Sherman Brothers were responsible for Mary Poppins music and they’d often play the song “Feed the Birds” for Disney. His favorite song was performed at the dedication of a Disneyland plaque on what would have been Walt’s 100th birthday.

Another favorite of mine is “Spoonful of Sugar”. I like to sing this while I’m cleaning the house. It’s true that a spoonful of sugar makes the medicine go down, even if that medicine is a big pile of dirty pots and pans in the sink.

The story of origin for “Spoonful of Sugar” is that Bob Sherman’s son came home from school after a day of getting vaccinated, also known as getting shots. When Mr. Sherman asked his son if it hurt, the boy replied that they put a sugar cube on a spoon and fed it to each student after they got their shot. The next day Bob Sherman told his brother the now very famous lyric.

A movie is out in theaters now called “The Boys – The Sherman Brothers Story”. The brothers are responsible for more than Mary Poppins music. Music for Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Jungle Book, Parent Trap, and The Aristocats came from the Sherman brothers. Find more information about the movie here.

I’m excited about this film because like the trailer says they are responsible for many of the songs that children have grown up with. What Sherman Brothers tune will you sing today?

Thanks to Scott Brody, Lisa Butterworth and Richard Molden on Facebook/twitter, for their Mary Poppins and Sherman Brothers information.

I’ve mentioned this amazing movement of peace through music before but I finally had a chance to review the Playing for Change CD/DVD and I can’t say enough about how enjoyable it is. It’s entertaining, uplifting and thought provoking.

Here is Grammy-winning music producer and engineer Mark Johnson talking about how Playing for Change started and why.

Playing For Change Explained from Playing For Change on Vimeo.

What I love about Mark Johnson’s project is his ability to put us in the moment so perfectly. In this next clip we see Roger Ridley performing on the Third Street Promenade in Santa Monica, CA. I’m sure many people passed this moment by because they had some place to go, something to do or someone to see. With this video, Mark keeps us right there dancing with the kids, swaying with the grown-ups and feeling Roger’s passion for the music.

Bring It On Home from Playing For Change on Vimeo.

The unique thing about this multimedia movement is seeing and hearing the collective consciousness, the human spirit through visuals and music around the world. Like I said I can’t say enough about this CD/DVD Playing for Change.

The good vibrations stick with you long after watching and listening to incredible music like this:

Playing For Change: Song Around the World “Don’t Worry” from Playing For Change on Vimeo.

Learn more about Playing for Change at www.playingforchange.com

To purchase Playing for Change/Songs Around the World click here.

“I was in a subway in New York on my way to work, and I heard these two monks playing music,” he recalls. “They were painted head to toe, all white, wearing robes. One was playing a nylon guitar, and the other was singing in a language I didn’t understand. There were about 200 people who stopped to watch, didn’t even get on the train. Some had tears in their eyes. And it occurred to me that here is a group of people that would normally run by each other, but instead they’re coming together. And it’s the music that brought them together.” —Mark Johnson

Wendy & Lisa

Like many teens in the 80’s I was a loyal Prince & The Revolution fan. I drew the eyes, lips and side swept hair picture from the Purple Rain album artwork onto every book cover and Pee Chee folder I could find. My zip up hoodie vest was adorned with Prince & The Revolution  pins. My bedroom walls were decorated with Prince crawling out of his bathtub and riding his purple motorcycle.

Not only was I infatuated with Prince and the sounds of his music I was intrigued by the two woman in the group, Wendy & Lisa. They added a female vibe and contributed their own musical talent to The Revolution.
I was inspired by their style, confidence and attitude.

In 1986, Wendy & Lisa became a musical duo creating their own albums, a few being Fruit at the Bottom, Eroica & Girl Bros. They also started scoring music for film and television shows such as Heroes,  Nurse Jackie, Soul Food and Dangerous Minds.

When I heard Wendy & Lisa had a new album out called White Flags of Winter Chimneys I wanted to learn more about them. Here is my interview with Wendy & Lisa:

HIH: You’ve been friends since childhood. How did you meet and did you hit it off right away?

LISA: We met when we were little kids. Our parents were friends, our fathers met working in the studios in L.A. as session musicians (Part of the Wrecking Crew among other things), and our families became very close. There was an age difference between us, Wendy was probably only 18 months, and I was 4 years old? So obviously I was too sophisticated to socialize with a little rubber chicken like she was!

In truth, I was very close to her older brother and all of us kids went in and out of phase with our ages and interests, but always remained very close.

WENDY: I have no memory of not having Lisa in my life.

HIH: Many people don’t realize that you were musicians in your own right before being part of Prince & The Revolution. You both brought so much musically and creatively to the group. What was the group dynamic like in the early days?

LISA: I joined Prince’s band a few years before Wendy did and I was not aware of the existing dynamic in the band when I came to my first rehearsal in Minneapolis. I had played in a few bands etc…. my own bands mostly, and I had usually been the band “leader”, although it never was much of an issue or power struggle for anyone. Things were a bit different where Prince was concerned. There was a decidedly established hierarchy in place and I put my FOOT in it more than once. Having said that, Prince found me amusing saying, “I like a woman who laughs in the face of danger”. I think that because he thought I was a good musician he forgave me my attitude. He asked me frequently for my ideas and my biggest weakness was my utter cluelessness in regards to ‘’shaking my ass” on stage.
Oh oops!?

WENDY: I had studied and played for a very long time before joining the band. As it so happened that when I joined Prince’s band at the time I was really only spending my free time with Lisa so he was able to hear me play. That’s how I got the gig.

HIH: With all the protégé groups Prince was associated with was it difficult after The Revolution ended to be seen as Wendy & Lisa and not Wendy & Lisa from Prince & the Revolution?

LISA: It still is. That will always be there I suppose. I don’t know that I will ever really know the true effect that fact has had on my life and career. It is just the simple fact of my life. It has certainly made me/us a curiosity to people and it gets us in the door, but dealing with the definition and identity of ”Wendy and Lisa” remains a challenge to this day. We sometimes meet with executives that were in high school when Purple Rain came out and they tell us about the marching band that played purple rain, or that their school colors were purple and gold, and how everybody had hair like ours in the yearbook… so, umm…. yeah, that tends to cloud things when we are there to talk about scoring a drama or psychological thriller……!?

WENDY: I’m with Lisa 100%!!

HIH: You’ve had great success scoring for television and movies such as Heroes, Nurse Jackie and Dangerous Minds. What are the benefits and challenges to composing a score for television compared to creating a song for an album?

LISA: The great thing about scoring is the chance to zone in on an emotion or evolution of emotion using sounds and notes.

I find that the most simple approach usually works best. For instance playing one sustaining note and then adding a “major third”, as in the Three Stooges famous singing of, “Hello, Hello, Hello…..HELLO!” Those first two notes are a major third…. this creates a feeling of ‘good’, but if you start with that same single sustaining note and add a dissonant note , as in the famous JAWS theme where two notes a half step apart are played rapidly in succession, this creates a feeling of tension. These two notes are literally beating against each other, therefore literally irritating the human ear! (“Stop! PLEASE!” says the eardrum.)

When writing a song, the biggest challenge, or choice in defining the song is the lyric and/or vocal. The vocal can come right out and say whatever you want to convey. Love, loneliness, or some abstract observation; the choices are unlimited and if one is trying to sell a lot of records, the pressure of writing something that could appeal to the masses is, for me , a guessing game at best.

The Great thing about song writing is that you ARE free to decide where the ‘’scene” should go. You become the actor, the director, the camera… everything about it is your vision.

WENDY: Yes, Lisa is very right. Scoring is a beautiful and fulfilling way for me to understand and express the narrative of a story. I have always been and will always be a cinefile geek. Scoring has more power than the average ear can hear. I love that it is invisible yet it really drives the subtext or the larger vision of the writer director. Very different then writing a song.

HIH: How do you compose together? Do you both collaborate equally or does one take the lead more often than the other?

LISA: It depends on the project. We definitely have our individual strengths, but we also have worked so much together that we rely on the other one to be part of the thought process regardless of who is physically playing the parts, or writing a musical phrase or lyric. We score scenes in ”real time” while watching the picture, and for instance, while I play a string line or piano part we both watch the scene and Wendy can react and feel what I’m doing while am struggling sometimes just putting my fingers in the right place. We are a four hemisphered brain!

WENDY: We are merged completely.

HIH: What is your method when you get ideas for a song or score? Is it a methodical or whimsical approach?

LISA: There is a choice? There is a decidedly whimsical method to getting in ”the zone” for me. Just ask Wendy! Oh, you did.

WENDY: LOLOLOL… I think it goes back and forth the entire time.

HIH: Are you still in contact with any of the other members from Prince & The Revolution?

LISA: Yes, all of them. We remain close even if it’s just emails for long periods of time. When we see each other it is like “it was only yesterday.”

WENDY: Yes that’s true… we are war buddies… we stay very close. I think I speak to Bobby Z the drummer the most.

HIH: When Purple Rain came out in 1984, my Great Aunt May fell in love with the album and the movie. She was in her 60’s and I was a teenager but we both had a great time dancing to Let’s Go Crazy together. What music do you have fond memories of from your childhood or teenage years?

LISA: That is a HUGE question. Being that my parents were/are both musicians there was a constant flow of music and all kinds of music going on in our house. My brother and sister and I were all trained classically, but also had bands together in various combinations ranging from acoustic folk based, to punk/ new wave rock, Frank Zappa jazz dramedy, to a straight up bubble gum pop band that was produced by Wendy’s father.

I will say this… My Mother ALWAYS loved to dance and in the 60’s she would boogaloo to Jimi Hendrix, and in the 70’s we would all dance in the kitchen to things like Tina Turner’s first solo album, “Nutbush City Limits”, The Pointer Sisters, Rufus, Average White Band, Earth Wind and Fire, Santana… and Aretha Franklin … and then put Stravinsky on and weep to the Fire Bird Suite, or Beethoven’s 7th.

WENDY: My twin sister Susannah and I used to perform shows to our parents and their friends to Aretha Franklins CHAIN OF FOOLS…and the theme to Mission impossible which Our father played on. We used to pretend to hunt each other in slow motion and kill each other at the same time and fall to the floor for applause. I’m not sure what that says about our pathologies but it was cute in a sort of Addams family way.

HIH: I’ve been following you on twitter. What do you think of this direct form of communication with fans?

LISA: I LOVE IT! It has been a relief to me. It has lifted a phobia and a self-consciousness that was learned by years of being literally guarded and kept separate from EVERYONE. When Purple Rain became the success that it did, it changed our lives. We traveled first class, or on private jets, we would go straight off the stage into a waiting van or limo that took us to the hotel where we were lead through secret entrances, through kitchens and into our rooms where we would eat dinner in our rooms, often times pack our bags and get into a bus to drive to the next city. If we did go out to a club or restaurant together we were escorted to a private room, or table that was roped off, surrounded by body guards, and were almost completely unapproachable. In a way, at the time it was necessary, but to a great extent it was more like a strategy or a posture, than a necessity. It is also WAY better and easier than trying to answer fan letters in the mail, or even emails. We tried over the years to do that too, but Twitter is fantastic and fun and instant and also there is great wisdom in the limit of 140 characters per Tweet! (She said as she went on and on………!)

WENDY: I love direct contact. It makes all the difference in the world to find out for yourself what your fans want from you. I’m so in to it!

White Flags of Winter Chimneys

HIH: Tell us about your latest album White Flags of Winter Chimneys.

LISA: Well, most people ask us why it took ten years to release another Wendy and Lisa album, and I suppose that now by answering that question I have come to understand a little more about the meaning of this record and the experiences that took up that space and blew those pages off the calendar for an entire decade.

“White Flags of Winter Chimneys” is a Joni Mitchell Lyric from the song ‘Heijira”. At first I think we were drawn quite simply to the imagery and mood of the words. After letting the idea sink in for a little while (the idea didn’t come up until near the end of the project and then we wrote the title song), I started to connect with a deeper reason that perhaps we had both keyed in to without realizing it.

This record contains a lot of reflection on a continued feeling and experience of loss in our lives. Our last album was largely a memorial dedicated to Wendy’s brother Jonathan who died in ‘96. We were incapacitated for a couple of years before we wrote GIRL BROS in ‘98. As we began to heal and redefine ourselves as survivors, our personal relationship started to suffer great strain and eventually we parted as a couple and started living separately for the first time in 20 years.

Less than a year later my brother, David died and that is when I felt that the impossible was becoming the norm. That was in 2004. It was such a horrible blow…… Wendy and I, who had been working hard at remaining partners professionally and healing our broken hearts, were now face to face with another tidal wave to dive under.

With life throwing such cold and powerful storms our way it was hard not to want to just go to sleep. Like having hypothermia, I just wanted to close my eyes.

Funny thing is good things started happening. Professionally Wendy and I were getting great offers and support in the field of scoring, we both met other people and had children, and we both rededicated and pledged to work at keeping the best of ourselves available to each other. Why lose somebody when you don’t have to? We had been a family. Brothers, sisters, mothers and fathers included.

This was the Fire that was burning and sending up a White Flag of surrender, a beacon of warmth into the cold. It was acceptance and trust all wrapped up in a beautiful Lyrical Art Imitating Life Imitating Art.

The songs we finally got to writing all carry this truth. They are all songs about fighting and accepting. ”Beginning at the End”.

It was recorded in a few months in 08. Written and Performed by the two of us, and recorded by our friend and engineer Michael Perfitt.

It was made only because we wanted to make it. We have not had a record deal in 15 years? Maybe more. It is Rock, Folk, Psychedelic, Cinematic, Fun and Personal and… It sounds cool.

WENDY: WOW. Lisa answered for me. Thanks sweetie! Now I can get back to twittering.

Visit wendyandlisa.com and have a listen to tracks from White Flags of Winter Chimneys.

Follow Wendy & Lisa on twitter.

For the best quality viewing experience, please click on all highlighted text.

I’ve been in a Reggae mood the last few days, breaking out my Bob Marley and moving to the Movement of Jah People.

The condition of our planets people should not be overlooked. With all the talk about protecting Earth’s resources, let’s get together and feel alright. Many believe Reggae music has almost a meditative quality leading to inspiration and healing.

Click here to view One Love put together in honor of Bob Marley’s birthday February 6th, by global musical movement Playing for Change. For those of you with kiddos in your life, check out Ziggy Marley’s latest album Family Time.

A MySpace friend of mine sent me a video of the show Caribbean Beats. His name is White Rock Willie. People often get him confused with Captain Jack Sparrow but he’s actually a cousin of said savvy pirate.

White Rock Willie helped introduce some of the ”feel good music” on Season 5, scene 8 of Caribbean Beats in White Rock British Columbia, Canada.

Take a break and move with some Caribbean Beats. You’ll be feeling irie in no time mon!

Who’s your favorite Reggae musician?

Call it a Cup of Joe, java, or plain ol’ coffee there are many ways to ask for a cuppa caffeinated bliss. I fell in love with the taste of coffee when I was just a kid. I believe it started at the Thrifty ice cream counter. My favorite flavor was Java and I’d always get a scoop of Bubble Gum with it. The saying, you are what you eat, is true. Bubble gum and coffee is a combo that describes my personality deliciously.

When other kids wanted hot cocoa after dinner I wanted coffee with milk and sugar. I’ve tried many substitutes from chicory root to Soyfee but they never quite measure up.

So I did some research about coffee in pop culture. Two things I just can’t get enough of.

1. Coffee in Commercials

Just this morning I made the coffee a bit too strong again. Strong is great when you have a primo brand of coffee to start with but if you try to make diner style coffee strong you get “bad taste”. Here’s a retro commercial of a housewife dealing with this very same scenario. Let’s see how she solved her morning coffee catastrophe.

2. Coffee in Music

Emmett Miller’s “You’re the Cream in My Coffee”, The Ink Spots “Java Jive”, Bob Dylan’s “One More Cup of Coffee”, Wendy & Lisa’s  ”Waiting for Coffee”, and The Squeeze’s “Black Coffee in Bed”. We’d need a few pots of coffee to keep us going with the long list of java in music. Let’s take a coffee break. Click here and have a listen to Frank Sinatra sing The Coffee Song.

3. Coffee in Television

Friends gathered at the Central Perk. Alice filled coffee cups at Mel’s Diner. Dr. Frasier Crane met with Daphne and Niles for a caffeinated beverage at Café Nervosa. Even soap operas like the Young & the Restless used a coffee shop to set the scene.

Caffeine in excess is proven to increase irritability. Watch what happens after these guys had too many mochas at the Y&R coffee shop.

4. Coffee in Film

Just like television, movies have used coffee shops as backdrops, coffee cups as props, and even coffee as a central theme. Have you seen Coffee and Cigarettes by Jim Jarmusch? This film is a series of vignettes starring Tom Waits, Iggy Pop, and Bill Murray just to name a few. You can see a few clips in this creative Cinema & Coffee videoart on YouTube:

In 1961 a short film called This is Coffee was made. It’s full to the brim with coffee information.

5. Coffee Table Books

This housewife isn’t fond of dusting her coffee table but she sure loves coffee table books. I have two favorites on display. One is Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street and the other is Studio 54. A little Depp and a little disco is all I need to make dusting more fun.

On my quest to quench my coffee thirst, I found this great site devoted to coffee table books. Click here to do some book browsing. I think I need a few more coffee tables.

Any other pop culture Cups of Joe out there you’d like to share?