I've been thinking and thinking about how to feel good when things are bad. Where do you find good in the world, Sara asked the other day, when the world is full of bad and scary news...it feels kinda... hard.And then I remembered this haunting, acoustic version of Moby's own song, We Are all Made of Stars... it's the cello mixed with those gorgeous voices that get me. So totally beautiful. And hopeful.People they come togetherPeople they fall apartNo one can stop us now'Cause we are all made of starsI really love this version. Indeed, let's be the one who... More »

There's a series of these videos out in the internets... Dance Like Nobody's Watching.I find some of them rather cute and bold and charming, but this one in particular came to me through the usual social media portals, and I really love this one. I think it's because this girl's spirit and dance style reminds me SO MUCH of how my kids and I have been prancing around lately. (We're like an iPod commercial up in here these days...) I mean, if it can't be this awesome song, then it might as well be "Telephone" by The Black Angels. Gosh,... More »

I caught a performance by The Lumineers on Saturday Night Live this weekend, since I record that show, and I've found myself watching it again and again since then. I'm sure nerves played with their voices a little bit, but they really looked like they were having the time of their lives that night. It makes me smile.Says Wikipedia, some of the band members hailed from New York, but relocated to Denver, Colorado in order to make ends meet in a less expensive city... that takes some balls, I reckon. The two gent met the lady with the cello, and... More »

Oh, MCA... I knew the man was sick with cancer - everyone knew that. The Beastie Boys had to cancel a summer venue here in Montreal the summer of 2009, when he was newly diagnosed and needed to seek treatment right away. I thought all I'd read about his health in the years that followed was fairly... positive. Until the recent news of him having to miss the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction last month - that sounded rather bad to me - but I never imagined the end would come this quickly. Le sigh.Forty-seven seems entirely too soon... More »

I really love The Shins.There's a scene from the 2004 movie Garden State, where Natalie Portman's character Sam, and Zach Braff's Andrew Largeman meet in a clinic's waiting room. At one point, she holds out her earphones and says, "You gotta hear this one song, it'll change your life, I swear..." The song was New Slang. I've loved this band ever since.I can't call myself a die-hard fan, but every single song I've ever heard by them makes me feel good, and pensive, and romantic, and torn, and... wonderful. I hear their songs often during the day, on the adult... More »