Showing posts with label Glee. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Glee. Show all posts

Monday, March 23, 2015

Ode to JOY...


Almost five years ago, my sister-in-law made us watch this really quirky, over-the-top, ridiculous TV show one night when we were out visiting. I really had no interest in it what-so-ever, but I watched. And as I did, something in the episode spoke to me and I was hooked.


The show is called Glee and last Friday,  the last two episodes of Glee aired...I cried pretty much throughout the finale.

The show itself was about acceptance--whether black, or Jewish, or gay or whatever you are or aren't--in the Glee club you were accepted.

The show was also about finding your joy through song. I can't sing and I can't play an instrument, but I love music. I forget sometimes, but the show reminded me. And it reminded me of music I had loved as child and as young adult.  It introduced me to songs that I would never have heard otherwise.

In July of 2013, the Glee family and the fandom lost its joy. Cory Monteith, one of the male leads, died of an accidental overdose of a toxic combination of drugs and alcohol. It was a blow to his cast mates, his co-star, Lea Michelle (as Rachel, above) being his girlfriend, the crew, I'm sure, the show, and of course the fans.  As you can imagine, the show was never the same without out Cory's particular brand of magic.


My joy has been missing for a bit. I miss it and I want it back, though I'm at a loss right now as to how to do that. Maybe through music...

For the next few posts, I'm gonna revisit the music from Glee. In the lead up to the finale last week, someone online did a top twenty best songs from the show. They of course got it all wrong. Even most of commenters thought so as well. So I'm going to to my own TOP XX. Not sure how many there are going to be at this point, so bear with me for a few days as we--okay I--revisit my favorite Glee covers...in no particular order, but starting in season one.

Even though the Glee club lost at the big competition, the all agreed they still came away winners because of what they learned...

To thank their teacher Mr. Shuester,  they serenaded him with To Sir, With Love--the title song of the 1967 British film of the same name.


The Glee club's mantra through the whole series, was Don't Stop Believing...here is one of their several Don't Stop Believing covers....


I need to take that to heart!

Have a great week.


Friday, September 26, 2014

Don't Rain on My Parade, Glee style


One of my secret pleasures is the TV show Glee. Lea Michelle, who plays the female lead (Rachel Berry), has a phenomenal voice. She has given me chills with her renditions of certain songs.

Part of the character's back story is that she loves Barbara Streisand and wanted to reprise Funny Girl on Broadway--which she eventually does. Early on in the show, she sang Ms. Streisand's acclaimed Don't Rain on My Parade, which has for some reason become a must listen daily for me. I'm not sure why...

Anyway, I'm gonna share it with you today and I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.


And have a great fall weekend, too!


Wednesday, September 4, 2013

Let's talk about something else--I'm not a broken record!


There are other things in my life. Like TV. I like TV, though I don't have live access to it. You know, I can't just turn on my TV, change some channels and watch any of 100s of random shows. No cable or dish or satellite access. To watch TV, I have to log into Netflix through Xbox Live or over the Internet, watch DVDs, go online and access a TV station's website, or rent or buy via iTunes.

I do all of the above except rent from iTunes. If I'm going to pay money for it, I'm going to keep it.

The new TV season starts this month and I'm looking forward to a handful of shows. Namely:


Glee--this will be a bittersweet season after the death of Cory Montieth who played one of Glee's most beloved characters, Finn Hudson. His off screen girlfriend, Lea Michelle (who plays his on screen girlfriend as well), was given the choice to call a halt to the show or to press on. Last spring, FOX renewed the show for two more seasons. It's going to be a mighty different show without Cory and Finn. I'm both looking forward and dreading to see how they'll handle the loss.

In addition to Glee, I'm looking forward to... (in no particular order)





Anyone watch any of the above shows? What are you most looking forward to this TV season?


Monday, July 15, 2013

My world is a little dimmer and a little sadder today...


Yesterday morning, I learned that Cory Montieth had died Saturday morning sometime. No reports on the cause, but most fans will have posited that it was suicide. Montieth was a recovering drug addict. He'd recently entered and completed a month-long stint in rehab.

I know Cory from the TV show Glee. It's one of my favorites and Cory's character, Finn, also my favorite male character.

I know the pain of having a loved one addicted to drugs. My oldest daughter is recovering (a forever state) and doing well, thank God. Her story could have ended just as tragically and I'm so thankful that she's still with us.

I'm going to share this video with you. From an episode of Glee where Finn sings a song to a fellow glee member. Santana is a lesbian and her status is being outed to the world. She pretty much a bitch all the time and Finn sings her this song to let her know how loved she is (despite her attitude) because he's afraid if things get too bad she'd hurt herself rather than just lashing out at those around her. Too poignant in light of his death. He tells her he loves her right after the video ends.

Anyway, this is one of my very favorite of his performances.

Friday, April 20, 2012

I'm so bored...

An unusual phenomenon for me, but for the last few days, man, I've been at loose ends. No desire to read, I'm busy revising rather than writing. Not in the mood to watch movies more than once a week. So I've taken to re-watching favorite TV shows: Friday Night Lights and Glee. I love these shows. Mainly because they're just plain good story-telling. FNL more than Glee, but they are slightly different animals.

FNL is a drama, a compelling drama. Sure, it has its moments of melodrama and wtf, but it's good 99% of the time. And, fyi, it's not about football. It's about the people who live, eat and breath football in a small Texas town. Kyle Chandler as Coach Eric Taylor was my draw. I love love love me some Kyle Chandler. Finding new talent and an awesome show was a bonus.

Glee is a comedy. Sometimes silly, sometimes over the top, but it's campy and fun and most of the time, the music is awesome. I've been introduced to some great music in genres I don't normally listen to. On the flip side, the younger generations are being exposed to music from the past and in genres they might not otherwise be open to. Make no mistake, though, Glee is not a children's show. As a parent, I'd be hard-pressed to allow any child of mine under sixteen to watch it. But I love it. There are some awfully talented young people on this show.

On another note, it's Friday. YAY. Tomorrow is the third Saturday, which means writing group and critique group meets tomorrow. YAY. I'll probably fill the rest of the weekend watching my shows and cleaning house.

Do you have big plans for the weekend?

Friday, January 20, 2012

Gleefully plugging away...

Okay, so my title is a bit misleading...

I've been diligently plugging away at my current WIP for over a week now. It's the longest stretch I've done in quite some time and I'm fearful of losing my momentum by turning my attention to other things, even work.

Doing these revisions is a little like pulling teeth and yet exhilarating at the same time. Yeah, it can be tough to find the right words, set the right tone, or delete 10s or 100s of previously crafted words, but once it's done, it feels great.

But I've run into some questions. I'm worried that my scenes aren't doing what they're supposed to. But that's partly what CPs are for. We're getting together tomorrow. I'm going to ask for a bit brainstorming. In the meantime, I'm going to stay in the story. I'm going to keep doing the minor edits: missing words, misspelled words, transferring text from the old working document to the new one. Keep the story in my mind, let it percolate in the recesses when I'm busy doing other things like that pesky day job.

My current favorite show, Glee returned to the airwaves after it's semester break. And they started off the new semester with a bang! The first half of the episode had me in stitches and the second half in tears.

The primary male lead was perfectly cast, in my opinion. And episode after episode, I fall a little bit more in love with him myself. :) The primary female has a voice to die for and she pulls off every song she sings beautifully.

And tomorrow my first general meeting as head honcho of my writers group. Oh, boy!