Feast of Funky Soundtracks/Portfolio Song

Three of my latest audio fetish sources, all of which have given me delighful moments of laughter, tears, and bittersweet inspiration, are as follows:

1. Soundtrack to "Grey Gardens" - the award-winning Broadway musical -- Having been a fan of the original documentary for quite sometime (and I can't wait for the HBO film with Drew Barrymore and Jessica Lange), I had to procure this collection. Believe me, it did not disappoint. It brlliantly captures the beautiful absurdity of the Beale's, and of life in general.
Tear-up alert: "Another Winter In A Summer Town".

2. Soundtrack to "Once" -- the little musical movie the media called "the anti-Dreamgirls" -- No stars, just talent, with so much raw passion, sincerity, and love. The lead male was in "The Commitments" a few years back, and has matured wondrously, with a voice of fiery melancholy wisdom.
Tear-up alert: "Falling Slowly" - the big song from this work, an instant classic

3. Soundtrack to "Beethoven's Last Night" - a non-holiday multi-media event by the Trans-Siberian Orchestra, edgier and more creative than its longtime competitor, Mannheim Steamroller. It's a dark ode to the meaning of life, fate, and faith.

Grey Gardens the movie
Grey Gardens the musical
Once
Beethoven's Last Night

Try 'em out yourself, or projects like them over at my Pandora page--see my Some of Me links.
Let's keep broadening our horizons, and make our own personal Song Portfolio the eclectically marvelous masterpiece it deserves to be. What do you think? Response welcomed now...

Stimulus shmimulus--a wise word

One of my "authors of the year" is Brian McLaren, who recently posted this powerful response to the "stim" situation. His words are always right-on-point, and this piece is no exception. Be blessed by the wisdom you find here:

Brian McLaren/economic recovery (there are several entries with this theme throughout February--read 'em all!)

Down with addiction, both personally and nationally!

The Glove--Tina helping Tina

The glove of addiction and overconsumption continues to be peeled off in the Findlay household. However, one thing I've had trouble with is commitment to daily fitness and exercise. We have a treadmill in the basement, and I was doing ten minutes a day for a little while. The treadmill is beside a wall, facing a wall, beneath a low ceiling, in a chilly basement climate. And a constant torment was this: what to use as the soundtrack, music, spoken word, peppy music, rock or soul peppy music, library audiobooks, Bible on CD, what, what, what??? Talk about absurdity--this is one of those things that shows the backlash of being such a music-loving creative type. There's no such thing as "just throw any old thing on, and go with it."

So along comes the savior of this torment, my Sarah Palin-esque Emmy-winning namesake, Tina Fey. I'm a big fan of 30 Rock, and have been needing to seriously lighten up emotionally, get my stress-induced blood pressure level under control. A wonderful idea emerged--turn the treadmill toward the TV, pop in 30 Rock, and let that be the focus while I break my daily sweat.

One episode per day has been working like a charm. From the warmup during the pre-opening sketch, to the turbo burn during the closing credits, giggling all the way in between, this has rapidly become a valuable tool for my body, mind, and soul. I'm calling it my sitcom slimdown plan. Five days in a row so far, I'm on a roll!

Let's do whatever silly, unorthodox, creative things we need to do to keep peeling off our "gloves" and let our real selves emerge as radiant and energetic as they are meant to be. What crazy things work for you?