If you want to get published, it takes lots of passion and discipline to send your submission to 50 places. The stress may make you gray. Ironically, Fifty Shades of Grey is also all about passion, stress, discipline and submission. But you'll be surprised to find there's even more overlap! (Not including Christian Grey bending Ana over his lap.)

1. Christian Grey knows about ropes and is into bondage. An editor knows the ropes and is into beverage (red wine or coffee)!


2. An editor has to scrutinize a submission. Christian Grey has "screwin' eyes" for a submissive.


3. Christian Grey's hands are full of kink. A publisher's hands are full of ink.


4. Christian Grey will not tolerate Ana rolling her eyes during their contact. Editors will not tolerate you not dotting all your i's in your contract.


5. Christian Grey has masochistic tendencies. An editor has manuscriptic tendencies.


6. Publishers want to own someone's copyright. Christian Grey wants to own someone, outright.


7. Editors like to bold text the exciting snippets. Christian Grey likes bold sex and exciting whip-its.


8. Your editor likes literary fiction, but will turn on you for using the passive voice. Cristian Grey likes friction, literally. And will get turned-on by a passive voice.


9. Submitting means you want to be published. Submitting means you want to be punished.


10. Most editors won't like you writing off-the-cuff. Cristian Gray won't like you, except writhing in handcuffs.


11. In Fifty Shades of Grey, a safe word will end the pleading. In publishing, it's safe to say, the words: "The End," end the reading.


12. Editors want you to draft many versions. Mr. Grey wants you to drift into many perversions.


13. Editors will ask how long you've been blogging? Mr. Grey will ask how long you want a flogging.


14. Mr. Grey demands Ana sign a contract to consent to being erotic. An editor demands contact info with your content if she's being neurotic!


15. It makes Mr. Grey hard if Ana's bound, with a nice gag. Publishers will make a hardbound with a price tag.

Originally posted on author's blog, "Once Upon Your Prime!"

Toddlers and runny noses. Beck and artistry. Taylor Swift and awkward award-show courtside dancing. Yep, some things just effortlessly go together. Take the Franco-Finnish duo The Dø who are about to have their "damn right" moment and I'm saying that in my best Isaac Hayes impression (probably someone's worst). The tandem of Dan Levy and Olivia Merilahti are about to reach their tipping point with Shake Shook Shaken, their third album which dropped in the states yesterday. The LP (proverbial anyway)is a delicious dose of electro-pop and synth gems that will have your pants and ears simultaneously dancing together. I caught up with Merilahti recently and asked her about Shake, the success it's already had overseas, and more. Read on and read more.

Shake Shook Shaken" has been out for some time already - it's actually already a smash abroad, but just came out here. How does it feel to go full throttle promoting an album when it's not new to you? >
It still feels like the beginning, and we're used to having our albums out at different moments. It's great to share with new audiences. The good thing is that we know better what this album is about, it's not like this weird thing that just cracked the egg open.

Word. Your song titles are often blunt or perhaps better said - to the point. Is that something you're conscious of?
The purpose of this album was to be to the point, direct, frontal. A good title is crucial.

And you nailed it... Was there a theme in terms of the writing and musicality throughout the album process? Is there a theme for each album you do?
There was a sense of heroism that we wanted to achieve in the music. I also wrote a lot about chaos, loosing landmarks after breakups, and the courage it takes to stand up again. We don't really think of themes beforehand, it would make the process too brainy. The analytic part comes always second.

Who were you more inspired by collectively - musicians from France, Finland, or the States?>
We both grew up with American and English music in our ear: The Beatles, Queen, the '90s grunge and R&B scene for me and Dan grew up to Coltrane, Wynton Marsalis...Frank Zappa.

That's an eclectic mix to say the least. You're touring near and far... what's one thing you miss about home, and one thing you're thankful to be away from?
We're thankful to be away from routine and from a day-to-day reality, but we miss our loved ones a lot.

Lastly, how do you know you've made it big? Pick one A) You're an answer on Jeopardy! B) Nicki Minaj namedrops you in a song. or C) I interview you. D) Please say it's "C" E) Lifetime makes a tele-film about your lives and gets it totally wrong.
It has to be C as it's tattooed on my wrist! I promise.

Excuse me while I give myself a self-high five.



About A-Sides with Jon Chattman:
Jon Chattman's music series features celebrities and artists (established or not) from all genres of music performing a track, and discussing what it means to them. This informal series focuses on the artist making art in a low-threatening, extremely informal (sometime humorous) way. No bells, no whistles -- just the music performed in a random, low-key setting followed by an unrehearsed chat. In an industry where everything often gets overblown and over manufactured, Jon strives for a refreshing change. Artists have included fun., Charli XCX, Imagine Dragons, Alice Cooper, Joe Perry, Gary Clark Jr., American Authors, Echosmith,and many, many more!

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Ever since Anna Wintour began putting actresses and singers - instead of models - on the cover of Vogue, the relationship between Hollywood, fashion and the media world has been a love/hate/love again relationship. And that was even before the advent of Instagram.

On Sunday at the Grammy Awards telecast, Lady Gaga walked on the red carpet and didn't stop very often. She didn't speak very much. Although Gaga and her jazzy collaborator Tony Bennett did give a short interview to Ryan Seacrest, Gaga walked by Seacrest's E! colleague Giuliana Rancic without skipping a beat, totally ignoring the TV personality's high-pitched request for her time. Although the cold-shouldered gesture could be interpreted as a personal snub (as many celeb gossip blogs have), Gaga was just following a recent trend of major stars being highly selective of whom they grant interviews on the red carpet.

In fact, Seacrest was the only interviewer who seemed to score quick chats with some of the night's biggest celebrities, including Rihanna and Katy Perry. But not even Seacrest's magnetism could draw in the likes of Madonna and Beyoncé, who refused to open their mouths for the E! cameras. That's not to say that it was always easy for Seacrest to ask the "tough" red carpet questions. When he asked Nicole Kidman about which designer she was wearing, the actress looked visibly befuddled, and an awkward silence ensued. Kidman's only response after the terse moment was, "I don't know what to say."

The E! red carpet specials have been recently criticized for being insipid and borderline sexist with their zoomed-in focus on what female celebrities are wearing. The distaste has been pegged on the "mani cam," an E! award season red carpet gimmick where actresses get asked to "strut" their hands on a miniature red carpet to show off their manicures, nail color and borrowed jewelry. At the Screen Actors Guild awards in January, Julianne Moore, Reese Witherspoon and Jennifer Aniston all refused to do it, prompting a social media campaign, #AskHerMore, to encourage reporters to be more thoughtful when interviewing female stars.

Although #AskHerMore is clearly well-intended, the campaign is misguided in assuming that entertainment reporters don't know what they're doing. It's not as if Seacrest and his red carpet squad at E! believe they are sexist when they inadvertently reduce these lauded women to what they're wearing, but that's what the E!'s audience tunes in for. Perhaps more importantly, designers send celebrities these dresses with the intention of getting TV exposure. I used to believed that actresses were obligated and actually wanted to be asked who they were wearing, so they can name-drop the designer and continue a relationship for when they need a dress at the next televised award show.

Sexist or not, female celebrities are now instinctively tied to the fashion choices they (or their team of stylists) make. They may not have asked to be in that position, but the fact is that they are in that position. They can either choose to embrace it or forgo it altogether, but it's unbecoming to choose to be a fashion darling on magazine covers and then begroan being asked about their outfits. Natalie Portman can't pick up the phone when Christian Dior calls to ask her to be the new face of the fashion house and then keep her mouth shut whenever someone asks her who she's wearing on the red carpet.

"The red carpet is one of the only - if not THE only - arena in Hollywood in which women stand to profit more than men," wrote Jessica Goldstein on ThinkProgress, advocating for women to "take the money and walk" as a sign of female empowerment in Hollywood. "It's women who get the big-money partnerships with fashion houses, hair product lines, makeup brands and jewelry companies; women get the lion's share of awards show attention, buzz and press."

Of course, female celebrities have the option to decline red carpet interviews, offers to do fashion magazine spreads and an invitation to the Met Gala. In fact, I'm kind of surprised more haven't done so, considering the recent tenuous relationship with the pony and dog show that's celebrity culture. Just even a decade ago, appearing in magazines and TV shows was the only major way that stars could plug their projects to a mass audience. It made sense back then to put up with insipid questioning. Today, however, stars have a direct connection to the public with social media. Ariana Grande has three times as many Twitter followers as E! That's perhaps why she refused to give any red carpet interviews at the Grammys. Whatever she had to say or show she could have done it on the limo ride there.

While female music stars like Katy Perry and Rihanna dominate social media, actresses aren't as engaged in the social platform. Seven out of the 10 most-followed Twitter users are musicians while out of the top 20 half of them are female musicians. Katy Perry, for example, has close to 65 million followers. The most followed actress on Twitter is Emma Watson with 13 million, three million fewer than Pitbull. Other major actresses don't even break the one million-follower mark. Julianne Moore boasts half a million, while Reese Witherspoon only has 356,000. Respectable figures by all means, but a little disparate considering their A-list status. That's perhaps one of the reasons why actresses still are bound to participating in traditional media outlets.

It may be more effective for these actresses coming together to demand more thoughtful red carpet interviews to invest in their social media presence. That way they can take the reins and dictate the terms of public engagement. If Reese Whiterspoon had 15 million Twitter followers, she may feel less pressured to succumb to insipid questioning in exchange for plugging her next film.

And if for whatever reason she ever did want to show off her manicure, well, there is always Instagram.

This blog post originally appeared on Confessions of a Boy Toy.

Who doesn't adore Julianne Moore?

Especially in Still Alice, the film for which bookmakers are betting she'll take home the Best Actress Oscar, Moore's portrayal of a linguistics professor battling early onset Alzheimer's is letter perfect. Having a sibling myself, now encased in a memory care facility in Florida after being ravaged by the same affliction, every step of Alice's deterioration is recognizable: the random loss of memories, the awareness she's losing her identity, the outbursts of anger, the inability to control bodily functions and the short-lived moments when the person you have always loved reemerges out of a fog of despair.

Sadly, Moore's performance and that of her peers in Seventh Son capture a forgetfulness, too, although not one symptomatic of an infirmity, but one characteristic of creative bankruptcy. By the time this adaptation of Joseph Delaney's bestselling YA classic, The Spook's Apprentice, ends and you've emptied your bladder in your mall's stall, you'll have trouble recalling what's you've viewed on screen. So generically-configured is this tale of medieval witches who turn into dragons, and the alcoholic heroes who try to eradicate them, you'll swear you'll have come down with an incurable case of chronic déjà vu before the credits finish rolling.

Directed by Sergei Bodrov, an apparently esteemed Russian helmer (Mongol), the screenplay by Charles Leavitt (Blood Diamond) and Steven Knight (Dirty Pretty Things) leaves no stone turned and no character fleshed out. Every soulless soul is a well-worn archetype; every monster, even in 3D, is an anemic reiteration of a witless behemoth that couldn't scare the bejesus out of your virgin Aunt Tilly.

In this redundant battle of good versus evil, Jeff Bridges as the spook Master Gregory -- a la his eponymous role in The Giver -- has yet again to teach a young apprentice, Tom Ward (a ho-hum Ben Barnes), the seventh son of a seventh son, how to decimate witches, boggarts, ghasts and other hangers-on who comprise an oddball menagerie of ne'er-do-wells. The lead witch, Mother Malkin (Moore), was once Gregory's lover until he buried her underground for eons. Now she's escaped and is understandably miffed. So, slowly regaining her powers thanks to the coming arrival of the blood moon, she's formulating a nasty plan to sauté mankind, and only the spook and his trainee can save the day. If only they also had a plan to entertain filmgoers.

On the plus side, you get to view Mr. Bridges overact with some woeful vocalizing, reminiscent of a drama school dropout. This is amusing for a few seconds. Additionally, Ms. Moore's agent, no doubt, had to get her several million to lend her name to this vapid epic, and if anyone deserves a few million, it's Ms. Moore.

Moving on to Eddie Redmayne in the Wachowskis's Jupiter Ascending, the young actor who has garnered unceasing praise deservedly for his portrayal of Stephen Hawking in The Theory of Everything nearly snuffs out your fondness for his thespian athletics with this over-the-top, creepily dank villain characterization. Unlike Ian McKellen's Magneto in X-Men, Redmayne has been directed to howl like a banshee in diapers. You keep wanting to send him into the corner for a timeout.

As for the plot, sci-fi buffs should appreciate the twists and turns here. Jupiter Jones (Mila Kunis), who's been raised in Chicago by her Russian immigrant mother, doesn't realize that her long-deceased dad was an alien until the pointy-eared Caine (Channing Tatum), "a genetically engineered ex-military hunter" with well-developed pecs rescues her from cleaning toilets. You see that, thanks to her gene pool, she's actually a princess whose inheritance includes the Earth. And, unless Jupiter regains her throne, one of her genetic children, who are in fact older than she, will take over the planet and devastate mankind in a most uncivil manner.

Of course, since this is a Wachowski offering, the visuals are frequently stunning in an overwhelming manner, and scene after scene is quite entertaining. There is a problem, though, with the casting. Ms. Kunis is an uneven actress. She can be quite applaudable (Black Swan) and she can also be god-awful (The Book of Eli). Here she falls somewhere in between, bland and disposable. As for her chemistry with Mr. Channing, let's just say it's a failed experiment.

Still, the film is never unwatchable and your intelligence is at no time insulted. It's, in fact, sort of like a scrumptious soufflé that didn't rise high enough due to a faulty ingredient or two. If you're hungry enough, you're going to chow down anyway.

Michael Keaton hates talking about himself. This is why he's never been able to understand politicians. "They talk about themselves for years, move the truth around for years, only to win an election and do it for more and more years," he says to the New York Times culture reporter Cara Buckley at a recent TimesTalk. "It takes a really interesting type of person to do that."

Which is why he doesn't really entertain the idea that he is in any way his character Riggan Thomson in Birdman, a Hollywood actor struggling to make a comeback after starring in a blockbuster superhero trilogy. It's not about him or his story at all, according to Keaton. "All the characters are versions of [Birdman director Alejandro González Iñárritu]," he says. Birdman is not a proxy for Batman. "If that was your reading of it, it'd be pretty superficial," Keaton says.

For starters, Riggan is what Keaton describes as "mean and narcissistic," two qualities Keaton, a humble, salt-of-the-earth type, does not possess. "I wouldn't want to hang with him a lot," Keaton says of Riggan.

More than anything, Keaton relates to Riggan as a human being, not a Hollywood actor. Keaton hasn't "taken the pill," as he told NPR Riggan has, believing that he is as wonderful as the press says he is, the attention of an audience his lifeblood. But he understands where Riggan's coming from.

"People always make these generalized statements about Hollywood, and there's all kinds of people in Hollywood," he tells me backstage in the green room minutes before he takes the stage. "It's all larger than us. It's a giant machine. People are human, they believe certain things, and they want to believe certain things, and then they want things so badly, and that leads to desperation."

But Keaton isn't desperate. He isn't hungry for a "comeback" because, as he sees it, he hasn't gone anywhere. "I've done a lot of things that are stupid and I'm horrible in them, but I keep moving toward art," he says to an audience member during the TimesTalk. "Generally, I move in the direction of art."

Birdman is obviously a work of art, and more than that, it's a comedy, a fact that Keaton, who started his career as a standup comedian in Pittsburgh, couldn't be happier about.

"I'm so glad that people are paying attention to something that's a comedy, because comedy doesn't get its due," he says. "People when they talk or write about comedy, they don't really get it. When you look at this accomplishment of Alejandro and the cast, it's really extraordinary. I love that it's technically a comedy. I'm very proud of that."

While Keaton may not be Birdman, he's confirmed on many occasions that he is most definitely Batman.

During the Q&A after the TimesTalk, a fan approached the microphone and told Keaton he was addressing the question to "Michael, not Bruce Wayne," to which Keaton responded with a grin, "How do you know?"

After the debacle that was the 2015 Oscar nominations, in which Black-centric movies such as Belle and Black or White were denied nominations for Best Picture in favor of the scintillating Middle-Class Heterosexual White Male Makes a Privileged Commentary on His Society, many hoped that the Grammys would offer the unbiased recognition of diverse talent the Oscars so staunchly avoids.

Then Beck beat out Beyoncé for Album of the Year, and the collective realization was made that in 2015, systems of privilege have the power to trump talent when the time comes to make decisions about recognizing excellence at the highest level.

The trend of white (male) artists winning Album of the Year over Black female artists whose albums are complex, controversial, and commercially successful is nothing new. In 1987, Janet Jackson's album Control, which was widely regarded as an innovative work of Black feminism, lost the Album of the Year award to Paul Simon's Graceland. Then, in 1998, Jackson's The Velvet Rope, which was praised for its introspective lyrics about Jackson's struggles with anorexia, mental illness, and her sexuality, was not nominated for Album of the Year at all, the award ultimately going to Bob Dylan for Time Out of Mind.

Similarly, Beyoncé's self-titled album features the artist praising her own sexuality; grappling with the emotional trauma of a miscarriage, motherhood, marriage; and emphasizing the value of the unique Black female aesthetic. ("I woke up like this" is a reference to Black female beauty and was never intended to become an ironic twee catchphrase.) Beyoncé released the album with no prior promotion and subsequently changed the music industry in her refusal to submit her work to the inevitable possibility of its message being misconstrued and appropriated during the promotional process. Beyoncé is, in short, a nuanced self-portrait that examines the limitless possibilities of what a Black woman can be (a wife, mother, sexual being, businesswoman, artist, etc.) that was produced and released in a way that very adamantly rejected the assumed superiority of a patriarchal society built upon white privilege. Beyoncé, over the course of her 18-year career, worked to place herself in a position that afforded her the wealth, influence, and notoriety to make an attempt to subvert the existing power structure in both the music industry and American society, and the lyrical and visual content of Beyoncé subtly encourages its listeners to do the same.

So you can see now why Beyoncé was never going to win Album of the Year.

Of course, Beyoncé did end up taking home a couple of Grammys. Three, to be exact, in the categories of Best R&B Song ("Drunk in Love"), Best R&B Performance ("Drunk in Love"), and Best Surround Sound Album (Beyoncé). However, upon closer inspection, these accolades are not the benign wins that they appear to be but a social representation of essentialist ideologies that prevent artistic works by people of color from receiving the large-scale recognition that they deserve. In this context, essentialism is basically the idea that groups in our society (may those groups be classified by gender, race, or ethnicity) have certain "essential" inherent qualities that shape the way they think, act, and interact with other social groups.

The creation of "Urban" and "R&B" (and, to an extent, "Rap") categories for award shows like the Grammys perpetuates the idea that music that is traditionally produced by African Americans is so drastically different from "mainstream" music that it requires its own category and a different standard of evaluation. While it is true that R&B music differs from certain types of pop, rock, and country music in terms of beat, rhythm, and melody, placing an artist like Beyoncé, who has achieved crossover appeal, into such a category implies that no matter how successful she becomes, the "essential" qualities linked to her race and gender will always prevent her from achieving the same recognition as white males (who have positioned themselves as the "default" for identity in American society). Additionally, allowing her to win only in those categories as a quasi-consolation prize isolates the Black feminist message of her album to one stereotypical racial category and prevents it from being acknowledged by a wider white audience.

Institutions like the Academy and the Grammy selection committee have consistently proven themselves to be uncomfortable with change and racial difference. There is a reason that African-American actors and actresses typically only win Academy Awards for portraying criminals, prostitutes, maids, enslaved people, and villains. The same reason applies to why African-American musicians such as Common, Beyoncé, and J. Cole are regularly snubbed or under-rewarded for their musical talent as soon as they begin to take definitive and public stances on issues relating to racism and discrimination.

It is unsurprising for people who hold racist, sexist, homophobic, or classist personal beliefs to dislike or condemn those who actively work to dismantle systems of oppression. However, issues arise when the same discriminatory beliefs are used to decide who receives the highest accolades in a particular field and, along with that, national and international recognition. Admittedly, it would be difficult to expect the selection committees of shows such as the Grammys and the Oscars to immediately become institutions that accurately represent and respect the cultural differences that exist in our society today. However, as individuals it is entirely possible to explore these differences ourselves and promote the validity of variation within a cultural, musical, and artistic aesthetic.

This post originally appeared on herfoolishwit.blogspot.com.

Amusing and slight, What We Do in the Shadows is a mockumentary drawn from the same sensibilities that produced Flight of the Conchords, Eagle v. Shark and Boy, among others.

Written and directed by the team of Jemaine Clement and Taiki Watiti, this film presents a flock (coven? pride? school?) of vampires, sharing a flat in contemporary New Zealand. The documentarians supposedly have not only been granted access to film the vampires' private lives, but have been promised that the vampires won't eat them.

The joke, of course, is that roommates - even vampire roommates - tend to have issues. In this case, it's the prissy Viago (Waititi), a mittel-European vampire who had himself shipped to New Zealand (on a ship that apparently was a local, rather than an express) - he's the house mother who maintains the "chore wheel" and scolds the flatmate who has fallen five years behind in doing the dishes.

Viago can't understand why his cohabitants have to be so messy in general. If you know blood is going to spurt from a victim's neck, be courteous enough to at least put down a towel.

"We don't put down towels - we're vampires," grumps Vlad (Clement), a Transylvanian so old that his shape-shifting powers are on the wane.

The struggles within the house include generational ones.

This review continues on my website.

When James Bond rebooted with Daniel Craig in Casino Royale, the blend of old-school spy tale and modern-action sensibility seemed right - if still a little restrained.

Imagine now what would happen if James Bond were put in the hands of someone who was willing to not just rethink the secret-agent film but blow it up all together. That person is Matthew Vaughn, who cut his teeth producing the genre-busting British gangster films of Guy Ritchie. With Kingsman: The Secret Service, based on a graphic novel, Vaughn once again finds new ways to deconstruct and reconstruct the spy-thriller.

The conceit here, in a script by Vaughn and Jane Goldman, is that there are the intelligence services of each country - and then there are the Kingsmen, a private secret service in London that has no political strings to keep them from doing the right thing. While the idea of a private intelligence agency might rouse thoughts of secret police and the curtailment of liberties, these are pointedly good guys, modeling their selfless service on the knights of King Arthur.

The coolest of these cats is Harry Hart (Colin Firth), whose code name is Galahad. Through a series of early plot points, he winds up as mentor to an aspiring young hoodlum with the unfortunately comic-booky name of Eggsy (newcomer Taron Egerton), who is recruited to undergo Kingsman training.

What they're up against is a mad billionaire with a lisp, played by a jubilant Samuel L. Jackson. He's out to save the Earth by thinning the herd, as it were; if the planet is a living organism, he reasons, then man is the virus that is killing the planet. So: Why not come up with a way to reduce the population in one easy step?

This review continues on my website.

"SOMETIMES we are sitting around the house, and I'll say to Marilyn, 'You know, we need to get out more, see more people. Young people!" And she'll say, 'Okay. Let's do that.' But, we never do! I guess we are pretty content with ourselves."

•THAT'S Billy Davis Jr., talking about his long relationship with Marilyn McCoo. I had a fast, energizing phone call with the couple, who just celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary. The pair -- he was the founder of The Fifth Dimension group, she was its lead singer -- feel it is significant that they will be working in The Orleans Showroom in Las Vegas over Valentine's Day.

Marilyn said: "It's corny to say, but it is special. We still have so much joy in one another, and I know it communicates to the audience." Asked what the "secret" was to such a long marriage, they both chimed "Compromise!" Billy says: "What do you really 'win" when you 'win?' Is that how to approach issues? We've never thought so, and so far it's working."

Marilyn adds: "What is a marriage? It's not being in the same room all the time, or always agreeing. But how great to able to walk into a room and say, 'Did you hear that on the news...did you read this?...what do you think about such-and-such? Talking, bouncing ideas back and forth, companionship, friendship.

•DAVIS and McCoo finally went on their solo as a duo, recording many hits, all of which, including their Fifth Dimension work, they still perform. Both of their voices hold up remarkably well. I said: "You're not a rickety old nostalgia act." Marilyn said: "Well, probably not, but I suppose it depends on what you call 'rickety.' We are certainly not going to retire, and I'm always offended and astounded by people who ask or assume that, after you've reached a certain age. I'll retire when I don't like what I'm doing anymore!

They are excited that Sony Records has released a new CD of The Fifth Dimensions Greatest Hits, and that another label has re-issued the group's rare last album, Earthbound. And they are "in talks" about recording another CD themselves. "We'd love to get back in the studio."

And when I mentioned Marilyn's famous hosting of TV's Solid Gold musical show back in 1980s, she said, "Oh, I loved that! And you know the two people I met and interviewed that I never forgot? Janet Jackson and Bette Midler. Both so different, but just fascinating. Those two stuck in my memory."

If you happen to be in Las Vegas, stop in and see Billy and Marilyn at The Orleans. They are still "Up, up and away!"

•AS you probably know, some adventuresome people have already signed up for a great amount of money to go to Mars. They agreed even though they know if they go, it will be a many years trip and they will never be able to return to Earth. (I suppose some of these brave souls feel that such problems will be solved before they go. But there are others who don't believe that's the case. So let's leave aside the question of legal suicide for a moment.)

If the intrepid still plan to go, thinking they might live safely on Mars, I urge them to consider the "Miscellaneous Best Seller " list in the New York Times last Sunday. At number 6, there is listed a novel titled The Martian by Andy Weir from Broadway Publishing.

I have been urging and pleading with my readers and pals to give this thrilling, funny, horrific novel a chance. It is full of seeming scientific detail and is not a mere sci-fi thriller. You'll never forget it.

This might change your mind about the adventure of going to Mars to repopulate that planet. I am gratified that so many smart readers are paying attention to what is still an impossible dream.

Also, this novel is a great read!

•OH, please! Please, you friends of readers and editors, reviewers and publishers everywhere:

Don't keep writing about Harper Lee's newly revealed fiction of the grown up heroine of To Kill A Mockingbird.

Please don't tell me what you think...what happens...how good or bad it is. Just let it be and let readers world wide discover for themselves. I am not going to read one other word about Go Set a Watchman before I buy it (the least I can do) and can sit down and read it for myself. And I'll bet a lot of fans feel the same way.

•ANOTHER MOVIE icon gone to that big set in the sky. I do mean Lizabeth Scott, often referred to as the "ultimate film noir woman." Apparently, no other actress appeared more often in these dark tales of desperate men, treacherous women and the convenient gun pulled from the pocket of a mink coat. Scott was 92 and had had, apparently, a pretty good life. Maybe because at a certain point she kind of gave up on her career. From 1957 onward her appearances were sporadic. That was the year she co-starred with Elvis, in Loving You. (Perhaps she saw the noir-ish handwriting on the wall!) She did a lot of charity work, and agreed to occasional interviews, but the fire of ambition had been doused.

Looking back at her performances, one might assume that fire never blazed very high. Scott was a blonde beauty with a tough, determined look and a famously husky voice. But there was an odd, resentful sleep-walking quality about her, as if she could never quite rouse herself to high emotion or investment in her characters. Viewed today, this reticence is more appealing than it was to many critics of her time. Scott is seen to best advantage in films such as The Strange Love of Martha Ivers...Too Late for Tears...Stolen Face...Dead Reckoning and Desert Fury. (The latter is one of the few noirs filmed in glorious Technicolor. It co-stars Mary Astor as Scott's tough-as-nails "casino owner" mother. Great stuff!)

I expect Robert Osbourne to be hosting a night of Lizabeth Scott on Turner Classic Movies very soon.

•SPEAKING of blonde beauties with deep voices and an air of mystery, Kim Novak has a busy 2015 upcoming. In March, Novak will attend The Febiofest International Film Festival in Prague. She is to be feted and petted and three of her best films will be screened -- Vertigo, Picnic and Middle of the Night.

This month, Kim is sailing on board Cunard's Queen Elizabeth as a guest speaker. She will speak, naturally, about her career. As revered as Kim is for her 1950s Lavender Blonde heyday, I do hope some savvy movie-lover asks the star about the super-campy The Legend of Lylah Clare from 1967 (Notable for, among other things, Cora Browne's wicked take on gossip writer Radie Harris.) And/or 1980's The Mirror Crack'd.

In Mirror Novak, co-starring with Elizabeth Taylor, Rock Hudson Angela Lansbury and Tony Curtis, gives the comic performance of her life. Every line is classic, including her diss about Hudson, playing a movie director: "Did you see his last one? I could eat a can of Kodak and puke a better movie!"

The scenes of rivalry between Kim and Elizabeth, as screen stars past their prime, are also ripe: Kim: "I'm so glad to see you've not only kept your gorgeous figure, but you've added soooooo much to it!"

Taylor: "What are you doing here? I thought the plastic surgery seminar was in Switzerland?"
Another note to Mr. Osborne -- run this entertaining little gem on TCM.

"Children are smarter than any of us," said Bill Hicks, the late comedian and satirist. "Know how I know that? I don't know one child with a full time job and children."

But seriously, kids are often wiser than we give them credit for. And sometimes they can find true inspiration in places that may not seem initially obvious. Take the hit Broadway show Kinky Boots, which is now touring throughout the United States. In the Tony Award-winning musical, the owner of an old school shoe factory has to find a fabulously creative way to keep his family's business from going under. So he takes some untraditional steps to save the company. But more than that, as the show's lyrics tell us, the musical is about how to "celebrate yourself triumphantly" and "accept yourself and you'll accept others too." (Cyndi Lauper wrote the show's music and lyrics. The book is by Harvey Fierstein.)

Some people may not automatically think, Kinky Boots -- great family show. But don't be thrown by the title. I asked Daryl Roth, a Kinky Boots producer with Hal Luftig, why the show is wonderful for families. To get the full story, read the interview here at Parade.com.

What a show. I officially have a girl crush. Her name is Idina Menzel although some may know her as Adele Dazeem (if you don't know what I'm talking about google "john travolta at oscars"). Idina's comic timing, incredible raw talent (that voice!) and star sparkle yet girl-next-door approachability make her the type of girl you want to make your BFF. She truly shines at her best in If/Then on Broadway -- you can't help but like her and admire her and maybe (ok let's be honest) want to be her for just a moment.

If you aren't familiar with the show, If/Then centers around Idina Menzel's dual character Liz/Beth, who explores what happens when you make a choice to go down one road (focusing on your job) versus another (choosing love first). Being a 30-something year old woman living in New York City, Idina's dual character -- Liz and Beth -- was incredibly relatable. I wanted to lean over the stage and whisper to her "YOU are ME". The background setting is New York City and the humor, although broad, is appealing to New Yorkers especially during the humorous subway scenes.

The bigger topics of fate and timing and a little bit of luck surrounding the show are all explored in a thought-provoking way in this musical. I left the theater thinking about fate in a different way. Is there such a thing as chance or is it just a matter of numbers and percentages? Do we create our own luck or is it something more magical? I don't have the answers ... but I love that this show has brought up the conversation and has us exploring the questions. My ultimate take-away from the show was to take a risk and go for what you want. We all have that power to create what we most desire, and If/Then is a wonderful reminder of that.

I will definitely be at the very last show on March 22 to applaud loudly for Idina Menzel, Anthony Rapp, James Snyder, LaChanze and the rest of the cast. Great run, If/Then, we will miss you.

Unless you have been living under a rock, you have probably heard of a book called Fifty Shades of Grey. Now, I am not here to praise it as a work of literary art, nor am I here to bash it for its explicit S&M sexual messages.

I want to talk about something deeper (no pun intended!)

Let me just tell you that I hardly ever read fiction. I did have a phase right after college when I read a lot of Danielle Steele books, but then I got bored with them when I realized that it was the same story over and over with the names, dates and places changed (no offense to Ms. Steele because she is laughing all the way to the bank!) But I tell you this to say that I did read the Fifty Shades of Grey books -- all three of them. But probably not for the same reason as everyone else.

You see, pretty much every woman I knew said to me, "OMG, Carol! You HAVE to read these books!" Usually when someone says I need to read something (or do something), I politely say "Okay, thank you for the information," and then ignore it -- unless it's something that I really think I would want to do. But the sheer number of people who insisted I read this book was overwhelming.

So that make me endlessly curious.

What was the fuss all about? And...

Why was every woman in love with the main character, Christian Grey?

I just had to know.

I approached reading the books as more of a research project. I was trying to figure out the psychology behind the characters. And more importantly, the psychology behind every woman who fell madly in love with Christian Grey -- and the whole story in general.

Before I tell you what I learned, let me just give those of you who are not familiar with the story a very brief synopsis of the books.

Christian Grey is a self-made, gorgeous, hot, handsome, 27-year-old billionaire (think Mark Zuckerberg but with unbelievable good looks.) He is psychologically and emotionally closed off to people because he had a very rough childhood. Anastasia Steele is a virgin, college student who becomes sexually and romantically involved with him. And oh yeah, and there's one more small little detail... he has a slight preference for S&M activities. Just sayin!

Not only does Anastasia manage to soften his heart, but they apparently fall "madly in love" with each other. I think you have the main idea.

So here are some general conclusions that I came to after reading these books and trying to put the mysterious pieces together about what the fuss is all about.

#1 -- Is this what most people think REAL LOVE is?

Christian Grey is highly controlling. He is highly possessive of Ana. He is jealous. He has a temper. He is moody. He is unpredictable. Is this what most people (or women) think is true love -- and/or the perfect man? Does love equal control, jealousy and possessiveness? Well, not in my world. But maybe I'm the weird one. To me, real love is kind. It is freeing. It is gentle. It is pretty much the opposite of what Christian Grey does. Emotions like needing to control, possessiveness and jealousy are all rooted in fear -- NOT love. If you are jealous or possessive, you fear you will lose that person. But our culture teaches us that these emotions equal love. And this book/movie totally affirms it.

#2 -- Some stereotypes hold true.

We all say stereotypes are bad. And some are, but some aren't. I am not your stereotypical woman, but there are a lot of women who are (that's not necessarily a bad thing). And I am a professor who teaches about gender communication, so I am quite familiar with the gender stereotypes that we all have. But here are some stereotypes that do hold up in the movie: (1) women like strong, powerful, rich men; (2) women like to be taken care of; (3) women want to be adored by their man -- basically for him to be obsessed with her.

#3 -- Some stereotypes do NOT hold true.

Stereotypically, women "don't like sex." Or if they do, then they shouldn't admit it. And they certainly shouldn't pursue a lot of sex because then that makes them sluts. But if you ask me, the overwhelming fanbase for Fifty Shades tells another story. Not only do women like sex, they like excitement! They don't always like the boring traditional routines of taking care of the house, the kids, cooking for her man, and being the perfect little woman (think June Clever of Leave It to Beaver). And apparently, they don't like boring sex either.

#4 -- Couples really need to put a lot more effort into working on their relationships and their sex lives.

I heard a statistic the other day (I think it was on the Today Show) that said 50 percent of the women would rather read books like Fifty Shades than have sex with their own partner/spouse. And I thought to myself, "OMG... really?" I mean, the books are pretty "exciting," but I think it's sad that most women would like to replace their real world with a fantasy world (not that we all don't like a little escapism from time to time.) So that got me thinking that perhaps more couples should work on their relationships and sex lives a little more. I'm not suggesting that they go out and buy handcuffs, rope, whips and blindfolds, but maybe putting a little more effort into their romantic life (in all aspects), would be beneficial. And that goes for both partners -- they have to put in equal effort. Either that, or women will escape into romantic novels like Fifty Shades (or the TV show The Bachelor) and men will escape into porn (I know I'm stereotyping here -- but you get the point.) Or maybe either/both of them will find an online affair to get the excitement they need. Sadly, that seems to happen all too often these days.

#5 -- Your dream can come true by simply doing what you love.

This insight has nothing to do with men, women, sex, relationships or anything like that. This refers to the author herself, E.L. James. Apparently, E.L. James started writing Fifty Shades as online Twilight fan fiction. I think she was simply having fun in the beginning, and somehow it turned into this worldwide phenomenon. Whoa. Who wouldn't like THAT to happen to them, right? So what does that say to me? You can follow your passions and it can eventually turn into your career. Unfortunately, I don't think most people believe that.

I have more insights I could share, but then this blog would turn into a novel (don't worry, I'm not going to turn into a novelist any time soon -- I am definitely not a fiction writer.) But with that said, I do have a date with a couple of my girlfriends to go see the movie this weekend when it comes out. I promise you I will refrain from further analysis... at least until after the movie is over. ;-)

Until then...

Laters, Baby.

(Fans of the book will catch the humor in this line!)

Album: Good Boy
Artist: Nate Paladino
Style: Nick Cave, Johnny Cash, Elvis, Leonard Cohen
Released: November 7, 2014
Reviewed by: Christopher Zoukis and Randy Radic

Nate Paladino is a relic of a different decade. It's almost as if he climbed into a time machine, traveled back to the 1950s and then returned to the contemporary world. While in the past, he was thoroughly inculcated with the musical culture and spirit of Buddy Holly, Elvis and the Big Bopper.

This spirit of bygone days pervades his latest collection of songs, an EP entitled Good Boy.
It feels like either musicians on Good Boy were teleported to the studio via Motown, or they have an incredible knack for playing old time rock n' roll. Assuming they are session players, Paladino should seriously consider making them his permanent band. The band is rocket-science tight. John Hyrkas does yeoman's work on the drums, Frank Fermi and Anthony Shadduck play bass, Steve Maggiora and Danial Kirkpatrick join in on the keyboards, while Lauren Anderson, Sydney Endicott and Madeline Bukaty perform radiant background vocals.

The first track on the EP is called "My Kind of Bitch." And while the title, of course, carries with it negative connotations, the pejorative implication should be understood as being directed at the song's narrator and not as a gender-specific reference. In other words, the song is similar to Offspring's "Self-Esteem" in its perspective. Musically, it channels both Elvis and Randy Newman, combining a nostalgic melody with trenchant lyrics.

"Don't Say Maybe" is the best track, a rollicking, bluesy rock n' roller that charges along without regard for anything but pure fun. A hefty infusion of boisterous keyboards drives the melody, accompanied by a robust and persuasive rhythm guitar. And the guitar solo carries listeners back to Bobby Fuller singing about "fighting the law." But the highlight of the track is Paladino's voice, growling and snarling like Jerry Lee Lewis.

Two of the tracks, "Buy Your Heart" and "Friend in Need," have a more up-to-date sound. Both are slower, with less energy and originality than the "retro" tracks. The lyrics are excellent, but Paladino is obviously more comfortable with retro vibes than modern-day rock. When he performs the latter, the music seems forced and borders on inept, like if Elvis was asked to front Led Zeppelin.

Good Boy is a strong album, even if a bit sombre in a few tracks. The EP is nostalgic, rife with powerful melodies, and provides the perfect vehicle for Paladino's sometimes snarky, sometimes growling voice. Listeners who long for the embryonic days of rock n' roll -- the 1950s and 1960s -- won't be disappointed.

What do Judy Garland, Cindy Crawford, Angelina Jolie, and two horses named Romy and Rocky all have in common? I would normally come up with many witty, even snide retorts, but what I now know for sure is that they were all married at the same famous "Little Church of the West" in sunny Las Vegas. Yes, you read that right. A few weeks ago, my mailbox was graced with an invitation to the marriage of Romy and Rocky, definitely the most unique wedding invitation I had ever received, but as weddings go, anything can happen. My readers will know that I love to be at the center of the world's most important moments, so how could I possibly miss this?

At a time when world events have become so appalling and unbelievable, I thought it would be a nice respite to momentarily say 'neigh' to political articles, negative thoughts and applaud this union. I urgently needed to know if the bride would toss her bouquet or eat it. Would the groom be skittish and bolt? Would they serve hors-d'oeuvres?

Romy, a stunning bride wearing a classic formal chiffon wedding veil (she refused to disclose the designer's name) and Rocky, her handsome groom, have been inseparable for as long as they've known each other. And while our initial instinct as humans is to be skeptical if this is even possible in the equine species, I don't think we are quite in the moral position to know or judge what these horses may feel for each other, nor do we need to. When you look out on a grassy paddock, you may find it normal to see horses grazing together, seeming to be just one unit dining at pasture. Often, however, if you look closely, you will see couples pairing off - a gelding and his mare; a mare and her best girl; or even two gelding buddies kicking up their heels playing in the open lawn. We assume horses cannot fall in love, but what is our authority on love? We do not shy away from using words such as "scared" or "mad" or "feisty" to describe a specific horse's behavior, so who gave us the expertise to say "love" is not there?  
 
Horses have a structured social order based on relative dominance. It includes deep mutual understanding built on trust and respect, and though the details may be more simplistic, they seem to succeed in this more than many humans. As humans race to compete with each other, horses have a gracefully simple set of needs and priorities - food, shelter, comfort, and companionship. "It's the little things that matter to a horse," says the late Ronnie Willis. 
 
Romy and Rocky did not need to worry about whose family would arrange the wedding; this was an event put on by the Fédération Équestre Internationale (FEI) as part of its leadup to the prestigious Longines FEI World Cup™ Jumping Final and Reem Acra FEI World Cup™ Dressage Final, when the world's best athletes will battle it out from April 15-19 in the entertainment capital of the world. The event had previously been held in Las Vegas, but not since 2009. The wedding was a fitting "welcome back" to Vegas style, as the gorgeous couple walked down the aisle peacefully toward the Elvis impersonator who would join them in matrimony.

Looking at these two creatures expressing their love non-verbally, with a deep respect for each other, made me understand why this was not just a glib event.  Not only were they happy with each other, but everyone in attendance was having such a joyful time. Smiles were beaming. Whether the horses knew it or not, they were making all of us overcome with giddiness at the possibility that love, that most universal emotion, can simplify our connections if we allow ourselves to lead with love in our humanity. The romantic Valentine's Week wedding, within the grander spectacle of the FEI's celebration of equestrian sport and beauty, was superbly fitting for understanding how much the animal world can teach us about ourselves, and about the different ways in which we can understand each other without judgment. Even though this official marriage may have been human-imposed, the love and affection on display were genuine, and served as an event that made us all happy amidst times where we are faced with tragic news on a daily basis. 


 
Liz Gregg, the event's photographer charged with capturing this unique union, was all smiles behind her camera. "It's just like photographing a human wedding," she commented, "only less stressful and much cuter." According to FEI Director of Corporate Communications, Richard Johnson: "We at the FEI and our sponsors, Longines and Reem Acra, love the sport and love horses. We organized this event because it puts a smile on everyone's face, starting with the horses, who sense the happiness of the people around them, giving us all true joy and laughter."  And isn't laughter at a deficit in our world today?
 
By the end of the wedding day, I had learned something about humanity, through the love between two animals. I was reminded of our tendency to dismiss or become skeptical of pure love or true joy, and how many of us would be quick to laugh at the idea of wedding two horses in holy matrimony, or quick to judge anything that may seem outside of our culture's general way of thinking. We too easily forget that everyone needs love, and more importantly, everyone has it within them to share; sometimes we just need seemingly innocent events such as this one to remind us that there is much more within humanity and the world than the negative events we are constantly bogged down with proliferating. Occasionally, all it takes is a glance into the soul of someone who is different than us to be reminded that we are all bound by the same basic need for love and connection. I know I was definitely overdue for such a reminder when I boarded that plane to Nevada, and I encourage everyone, especially during this week of St. Valentine, to look for love - of any kind - someplace where you would not normally expect to find it.

As for Romy and Rocky, they've asked me not to share their honeymoon plans (the paparazzi can be brutal after such an event), and we were not allowed a peek at the bridal (or bridle) suite... Besides - "What happens in Vegas..."

When American Idol produced its very first winner, Kelly Clarkson, it birthed a superstar. Kelly's career has been spectacular since winning the inaugural airing of the series in 2002. As a bonus, Kelly can sing. She doesn't need auto-tune, so her live performances are just as impactful as her recordings. The girl's got pipes, instincts, presence and an endearing personality. She's got substance, and that's what an American Idol should be made of.

But lately, the judges have favored "the package" over the substance. Recent seasons have spawned a new low for the judging panel. They advance singers who can't stay on pitch no matter how many songs they sing, along with others who are decidedly lacking in any kind of stage presence whatsoever. Perhaps the vision is that their chosen diamonds-in-the-rough will somehow blossom and bloom during the process. The judges talk about "the look," "the growth," "the hard work..." yada, yada, yada. And they just keep advancing those who can't over those who already can. It's as if American Idol has been reinvented to be some kind of Pygmalion reality show wherein they take greater pleasure in raising a star than in recognizing one that already exists, but simply hasn't been discovered by the masses.

In recent seasons, the powers-that-be at Idol changed the judges and tweaked the format, trying to skew to a younger audience. But, perhaps it isn't youth they should be concentrating on. Perhaps the focus should be on the simple concept of better entertainment value. Tuning in to a show that fields great performances is far more appealing than one where bad singing and deer-in-the-headlights stage presence is routine. The judges should judge on merit first and potential second. Then we might have something to watch and root for. Nowhere is it written that American Idol should have all the components of a county fair talent show. It should be far more advanced than that. The viewers, and the contestants, deserve a higher standard.

I happen to love the three judges currently at the helm. They are likeable and entertaining. My only problem with them is that they go off the rails, axing killer singers in favor of some who can only dream of being that good. Will this season be a repeat of last? After all, we've already seen the Top 24, even if only in silhouette and from the backside. Are those the best 24 that could have been assembled? Can they actually sing... in tune... all the time? Do they have at least a modicum of rhythm so that movement on stage is natural and appealing? I hope so. That would be awesome.

There are a lot of really, REALLY, great singers this season. But if history holds, many of those who should advance simply won't, and others who should have gone back to the practice room some time ago will find themselves standing on the big stage gushing to Ryan: "This just means so much to me!" But of course that's true for every singer who makes it to the live stage, whether or not he or she deserves to be there.

Some American Idols have gone on to become superstars. Others have faded so badly that it's hard to remember their names. So what will happen this time? Will we be subjected to more unprofessional, uninspired, and off-tune performances, or have the judges seen the light and advanced a top 24 who will knock our socks off with every performance?

We've already seen some extraordinary talent from both the guys and the girls this season, and it's very likely that there is another Kelly Clarkson in the bunch. But the real question is this: Will the judges send those already in full bloom forward, or will they choose, once again, to advance unopened talent buds instead? The problem is that buds can one day become a beautiful bloom, or they can simply fail to open. If the latter happens, the viewers are doomed to another lackluster season of mediocrity.

The judges have no easy task, but if they first choose singers who can actually sing and worry about "the package" later, we might get to enjoy the American Idol live performance shows the way we enjoy concerts of our favorite artists. That would be amazing for everyone on both sides of the camera.

One can only hope.

Pieta Brown must have a green thumb. Only the verdant garden of earthly delights she cultivates includes a colorful collection of words, phrases and notes that magically sprout into beautiful songs, slowly climbing like a clinging vine until they wrap around your heart and refuse to let go.

As the flower child of Greg Brown, one of Iowa's forefathers of folk, Pieta has grown into her own as a roots artist since beginning a budding career with the release of her first record in 2002.

Her sixth full-length album, Paradise Outlaw (Red House Records), released last September, reveals a stunning, seductive singer-songwriter in full bloom, as poet, producer and proprietor of a group of songs that are equal parts tender, alluring and utterly unforgettable.

Brown is also mysterious, and admitted in our 2011 interview that she likes to keep certain personal details about her life private while letting her lyrics and music provide ways to connect with outsiders. But it's obvious this firm believer in flower power (see Q&A below) is a reflective romantic at heart, expressing her love through sentimental songs such as "Be With You" (from 2011's Mercury) and "Prayer of Roses" (off 2010's One and All).

Now, just in time for Valentine's Day and just ahead of a U.S. tour that begins Feb. 27 in Denver, Pieta is premiering the video of "Flowers of Love" for readers of The Huffington Post. Instead of receiving flowers or candy on this international holiday for lovers, she'll gladly take the gift of song instead. Except this time, the generous free spirit presents a bountiful bouquet in the form of an irresistible video directed by Mei-Ling Shaw Williams.



The bouncy number includes harmony vocals by Justin Vernon, the brains, heart and soul behind Bon Iver who offered up to Brown his April Base recording studio in Fall Creek, Wisconsin (near his hometown of Eau Claire) shortly after they met in 2012 while on tour in Australia.

"Flowers of Love" was one of the 14 songs that made the album (all originals except the cover of Mark Knopfler's "Before Gas and TV") among the 20 recorded live in one big room at April Base from Sept. 17-20, 2012.

Originally intended to be a double album, Paradise Outlaw was led by a strong supporting cast that included Pieta's husband, co-producer and electric guitarist Bo Ramsey, Amos Lee (Pieta's cowriter and duet partner on "Do You Know?") and Pieta's dad Greg.

Explaining his part in the process, Vernon said in an email, "My close friend and engineer BJ Burton was doing the album in our house. And I've always been a fan of hers and her father's. I was very exhausted from touring and recording nonstop and had made a conscious decision not to record on anyone's album for a while. But I was upstairs, and the music sounded TOO good not to want to be a part of it. Still is probably my favorite record ever made at our studio."

Added Pieta about the spontaneous collaborative contribution, "I'm a big fan of unspoken connections. I feel a music/land/Midwest connection with Justin. So when Justin came down into the studio and joined in, it made perfect sense." 

Their mutual admiration and shared enthusiasm are readily apparent in the adorably animated "Flowers of Love." And since flowers and Valentine's Day go together so well, it seemed like the perfect time to catch up with Pieta and ask her a few questions via email about matters of the heart and the powerful symbols connected to this dance with romance. So check out the video, then enjoy her responses to 10 questions dealing with the flower power of love:



PIETA BROWN'S LOVE CONNECTIONS

1. How will you spend Valentine's Day?
That's a secret ...

2. What's your favorite flower to receive -- on any occasion?
Any and all flowers! 

3. What do you remember about meeting your first love?
The feeling that we were old friends ...

4. What (or who) inspired you to write "Flowers of Love"?
The day I wrote that song I came across a great photo of George Harrison ... in the photo he's sitting in a bunch of flowers. The photo was something I must've torn from a magazine. Found it tucked in a little book in my garage studio. I had been revisiting a lot of Allen Ginsberg poems around this time, too.  And had just read about Allen Ginsberg being a force behind the idea of (he coined the term!) flower power.  He wrote an essay called How To Make A March/Spectacle (1965) urging people to "give masses of flowers" to police, press, politicians and so on ... with the idea of turning the antiwar protests of the day into "peaceful affirmative spectacles." I was touched and inspired by this ... the idea that something serious and urgent can also have a sense of lightness and sweetness about it and be delivered with a peaceful intention is radical! So I got to thinking I should experiment in using flower power in music and songs, here and now...

So, I happened to have my banjo out when I found that picture of George Harrison, and with all that flower power fever I had going, well ... before you know it I had a song called "Flowers Of Love." 

5. Flower phrase you relate to more: "Everything's coming up roses," "fresh as a daisy" or "tiptoe through the tulips" (and why)?
"Everything's coming up roses"  To quote another favorite of mine, Dolly Parton,  "I wake up every morning ... if things are not right I try to set about trying to make 'em right." 

6. How does your garden grow?
Wildly.

7. Growing up, which poster on your bedroom wall did you cherish the most?
Led Zeppelin. Swan Song.

8. What's the most romantic album in your collection (and why)?
Oh man ... never have been good at "most" or favorites ... but a few that come to mind today are ...

SADE -- Lovers Rock
VAN MORRISON -- Tupelo Honey 
KING CURTIS -- King Soul

9. What would you love to accomplish next?
I would love to accomplish feeling like I don't need to accomplish anything ...

10. If you weren't singing and writing music, what would you love to be doing?
I make a point of putting love into everything I do ...

Publicity photos by Mei-Ling Shaw Williams.

No doubt about it. The Grammys are in trouble. Aside from an occasional moment of actual artistry here and there - like Annie Lennox's recent performance - over the past decade, the barely credible awards show that celebrates, what it claims, are music's best and brightest, has made it its mission to hype the same overly-processed/produced artists, singing the same overly-produced songs, and saying the same ridiculous things. If that's not enough proof the show's relevance is in a downward spiral, just look at the numbers.

Last Sunday's telecast of the annual awards show netted its lowest ratings in over six years, combined with a 10% drop in viewers in the all-important 18-49 demographic.

This shouldn't really come as a surprise to anyone, except for maybe Kanye West, who happens to be one of the few interesting artists left in the decaying corpse that is today's music business.

And, God bless him. Without Kanye dissing Beck, without Chris Brown and Rhianna throwing down, without some dork crashing a Bob Dylan performance, without J-Lo showing up half-naked, who would care about an awards show for an entire industry that only promotes about 11 artists a year?

Simply Google "Kanye Beck Grammys" and you'll be able to peruse over 44 million posts. If that's not a great way to stay relevant these days, I don't know what is. But, obviously, it has nothing to do with music.

Yes, kids, this is what it looks like when the prophecy "Pop will eat itself" actually comes true. But, it's not just The Grammys that are in trouble, it's the entire music business.

This, also, should be no surprise to anyone over the age of 15, but even though we're well-entrenched in the iTunes generation, it's still pretty alarming to see a mega-successful artist like Meghan Trainor claim she's broke .

You couldn't go anywhere in the past year without hearing "All About That Bass," yet, in a recent interview, the outspoken Miss Trainor says she's hardly seen any returns. Nonetheless, the record industry keeps churning along blindly, handing out awards for "Best This" and "Best That", which is all well and good, but when no one knows what a record is anymore, what does it really mean?

For the lucky 5 or 6 artists that make it through the machine, it means a phone call from Clive Davis, or one of the other two remaining moguls, but, as the facts clearly show, this type of business model - if you can call it that - is akin to the dinosaurs eating everything they see while doing nothing to replenish the soil. We all know what happened to them.

Today's music buyer has an attention span of about five minutes. He/she downloads one or two songs by an artist and moves on, making it all but impossible for most artists or groups to build their brand. The other end of the process - the actual writing of a song - is just as constricted.

A friend of mine is a mega-successful songwriter/producer. He's written for the likes of Britney, J Lo, and many others and made millions from publishing. However, in the past 4-5 years, he's found it almost impossible to get anyone to work with him. This is due, in no small part, to the handful of mega-artists - who make up a huge chunk of what's left of music sales - circling the wagons and only working with the one or two writers/producers they know from way back when, leaving a lot of talented writers - even in the cheesy top 40 category - watching from the sidelines.

One of my Facebook friends posted a great quote the other day that sums up this whole mess quite nicely: "It took 68 people to make Beyonce's album. Beck did it all by himself."

Foo Fighter's mega-talented front-man Dave Grohl's recent Facebook post talking about how kids these days think that the way to become a musician is to wait on line with a thousand kids, go on television and sing a song for a few ego-maniacal judges, and, voila!, you've got yourself a career, is another good illustration of what the industry - and the art - has become. However, Dave misses one important distinction: Standing on line and singing for judges on T.V. is not how you become a musician, it's how you become a pop star, and, even more so today, they're two very different things.

It's easy to put the blame for the shambles the music industry as a whole currently finds itself in on the shoulders of the greedy corporate executives from years past. But, another major factor of the collapse of this once unstoppable machine that cannot be ignored has to be former president Clinton's signing of the Telecommunications Act of 1996.

This one action instantly removed all restrictions of media ownership - restrictions that would've provided the nation's treasury with an additional $70 billion in license fees - and allowed corporations like Clear Channel to gobble up as many television and radio stations, concert venues, promotion companies, media outlets, and ticket vendors it could get its greedy hands on. This move, accompanied by the simple trick of the same ownership using different names like Live Nation - to make it appear as f they are different entities, was/is arguably the single-greatest reason the music industry has lost 99% of its diversity.

Even a monkey could tell you allowing one or two giants to monopolize an entire industry, be it music, movies or even long distance telephone calls, all but stifles any hope of organic creativity and competition, yet, apparently our congressmen and women felt otherwise. What else is new? Sure, once in a while something slips through the pipes, but that's about as rare as an escape from Alcatraz.

So, how do we make things better? Obviously, there's no easy answer. But, seeing as how the days of "artist development" are pretty much gone forever, it's good to see nationally recognizable brands, like Restoration Hardware - a company that, in your wildest dreams, you'd never associate with music - stepping up and using its resources to help launch the careers of independent artists.

I guess the best we, and they, can hope for at this point is that, perhaps, along with the surprise of Gerardo winning Album of the Year, the 2016 Grammys will feature a few more real "musicians" in between the dance numbers. If not, there's always the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Now, there's a group who know what they're doing.

Educators have the unique task of not only teaching concepts, but they must find new ways to make it relevant and engaging enough to capture the attention of their students. One way faculty members garner the attention of students, education experts and the media, is by creating courses and lesson plans around popular culture. Rutgers University received a substantial amount of attention when they launched their Women and Gender Studies course, Feminist Perspectives: Politicizing Beyoncé. Shows like Mad Men and The Wire are often used in college courses to explore issues like gender and socioeconomics.

Pop culture, and particularly television shows, can be excellent learning tools in the classroom. Comedies like Parks and Recreation will often take complex issues like gender roles in the workplace and oversimplify them. The oversimplification and sense of humor injected into these complex and heavy issues, can actually be quite helpful in the classroom. Students that feel less equipped or confident to enter the conversation about these issues are much more willing to contribute if they are able to do so in a way that is more of a discussion about the show and the characters.

While the goal of an educator is to work with their students to be able to engage in a meaningful dialogue about complex issues, this is an excellent first step in that direction.
The Parks and Recreation series includes enough episodes on gender roles and women's issues in the workplace that an entire course could be built around that. However, in this post I have selected five episodes that touch on a varying topics to show the many different ways an educator could use the show in their classroom.


Photo credit: wired.com

1. Episode: Sweet Sixteen (Season 4, ep. 16) | Lesson: Leadership and Balance
This episode is a perfect pairing in the classroom with Arianna Huffington's book, Thrive. The episode explores the issue of balance and burnout when the main character Leslie Knope is trying to be everything to everybody. She is running for city council while still trying to balance her work in the Parks and Recreation department. When she misses a colleagues birthday, she tries to make up for it by throwing him a surprise party. Over the course of the episode, Leslie realizes she is struggling with keeping up with all of her commitments. Probably the best part of the episode, and the best lesson, is when Leslie's boss Ron Swanson gives her some simple advice. He says, "Never half-ass two things, whole-ass one thing." It's a lesson that many young people need to hear, and an episode that is sure to drum up some thoughtful conversation about balance.

2. Episode: Pie Mary (Season 7, ep9) | Lesson: Gender Roles
Gender roles, particularly when it comes to issues related to equality in the workplace are important topics for young people to explore. In this episode, Leslie's husband Ben Wyatt is running for Congress and Leslie becomes the center of some unwanted media attention when she doesn't participate in a longstanding Pawnee tradition of baking pies with the other candidate's wives. Leslie is attacked for not valuing family, not being a good mother and for "silencing" her husband all because of her status as a successful working woman. Ben reacts to the critics by asking them why he is never asked about his kids or role as a father and husband. He does an excellent job of articulating the double standard his wife is under. It's all delivered with excellent comedic timing and opens the door for a great discussion about women, the workplace and the media.

3. Episode: The Pawnee-Eagleton Tip Off Classic (Season 6, ep3) | Lesson: Digital Privacy
This episode has some great clips to start a valuable conversation about digital technology and privacy (or lack thereof). While the main story of this episode is about the town's rivalry with neighboring town Eagleton, the secondary story is about Ron Swanson getting "off the grid." Ron's character places great value on privacy. When his assistant April shows him his home on Google maps he is determined to get off the grid. He enlists his two most social media savvy colleagues, Tom and Donna, to help him. The episode explores the various levels of comfort people have with sharing on social media and the clips serve as a great conversation starter about privacy in the digital age.

4. Episode: Pawnee Zoo (Season 2, ep1) | Lesson: Values
What happens when a deputy parks director hosts a small wedding ceremony for two penguins at the zoo? Normally nothing, but in this episode in turns out that Leslie married two male penguins. All of the sudden she has supporters on one side of her, an angry mob on the other side, and the media in front of her catching all of it as it unfolds. This dilemma puts Leslie in a unique position as she is encouraged to "pick a side" while also trying to stay mutual as a government official. The episode offers excellent opportunities to have a conversation with your students about values. It's important that we encourage are students to identify their values. However, the conversation does not stop there. We need to discuss the complexity of our values and how we are challenged on our values throughout life. It's a heavy topic, but this episode is a great tool to start the conversation and lighten the mood a bit to get students talking.

5. Episode: London Part 2 (Season 6, ep2) | Lesson: Leadership
Granted, leadership is a very broad topic with many facets as well as many theoretical constructs used in the classroom to understand it. One common theme that many of our student leaders, sport team captains and student volunteers experience is that feeling of their role being a thankless job. Leslie reaches a breaking point in this episode with the amount of work she pours into her job and the lack of gratitude she receives from the community. As much as we hate to admit it, we have all been in that dark place. Show this episode to your student leaders in school or on campus, and create a space to talk about the work they do as leaders. The episode has a great ending with some more thought provoking advice from Ron Swanson, and it is sure to resonate with your student leaders.

Using television shows as learning tools can be a captivating way to communicate a new concept in the classroom. Once you have the attention of your students, it makes it that much easier to engage them in meaningful conversations. What shows have you used in your classroom? How did it work and how did the students respond? I'd love to hear your thoughts and the ideas you've used! Please share by commenting on the post.

Kore Ionz is an amazing reggae band that is Seattle based with its feet planted in the island reggae scene but always touching many different types of musical genres.As you'll see, the reggae from the islands of Hawaii are a heavy influence but with the horn section, Pyramid, the drum foundation, melodic keys, heartlike bassline, and awesome perscussion styling, Kore Ionz is worldly. Geologic from Blue Scholars described to Daniel Pak, Kore Ionz's lead man, that the band is reaching the level of cosmic.

That's a beautiful thing. To be able to transcend and have any listening ear to transcend with you, is a gift. These guys take their gifts and help you as the listener join, participate, and contribute to the true meaning of "Aloha."

I had the great opportunity to talk story with Kore Ionz's lead man, Daniel Pak. What we came up with I believe you will enjoy. Get to know these guys and if their charisma alone don't win you over, their music will demand you to follow along.

If you don't believe me, check out their exclusive premier on Huffington Post of their new video, Starship (below). You'll be belly full. Chee!

Meet Kore Ionz.


Pictured (l to r): Ahkeenu Musa, Max Levin, Masa Kobayashi, Daniel Pak, Darian Asplund, Greg Kramer Not Pictured: Teo Shantz, Owuor Arunga
All Photos: Brad Puet

What is the meaning behind the name Kore Ionz?

Originally the meaning of the name, Kore Ionz, was a joke.

A former bass player and I, who were both Korean and Japanese American, came up with it. He came from a punk rock background. We both said after we were done with this reggae thing we could start a hardcore, punk rock band and call it Kore Ionz. Koreans.

It's funny because people have told me, "That's so cool that your band is all Korean."

Oh so you haven't seen our band live before, ok I get it. (laughs)

Anyway the meaning has evolved. Everyone has a different idea, a different perspective of what the meaning is behind the name. What it means to me is that in this world there is positive and negative energy. There's love and hate. There's happiness and sadness. There's the constant polarity and duality of life. Opposites!

Coming from a background in science, before I got into the music industry, my understanding of ions are that they are charged particles. They are building blocks of everything that we see, feel, hear, taste. Everything that we as humans can interpret as things. Those ions when they are charged in their ionic state, are either positive or negative. At this state, they are in constant state of chaos. They're colliding. They're violent. They're repelling each other. They're this mish mash of energy. It's only when a positive and negative ion can come together and bond to find a compromise of sorts, only then can stability be accomplished.

To me, since those are the building blocks of life and everything that we see out there, sort of is an ionic phase. So it's only when a positive and negative can come together, its only when love and not so much love - hate as we know it, can come together, and or when happiness and sadness can come together is when we reach stability. It's when a major chord and a minor chord can come together and compromise and create something beautiful. That to me is the essence of what we do, where we go, and what the music means.

I've been told by many of my students that it's not music that I do for a living. It's the idea of connecting people. Music is just one tool for doing that. I like to think that everywhere I go in this world with this band is with the idea of spreading "Aloha" to the people. It always happens. As far away as we ever travel, people are drawn to us, drawn to this Aloha spirit. It's the act of welcoming. It's the act of leaving.

So whenever we have this chance to take the stage and be amongst the people and play this music, it's not just about the stage performance, the lights, the Facebooks, the Instagrams, the Twitters and all the other smoke and mirrors...it's just not about that. It's truly about the platform to meet people, to connect with people and that is the main thing.


Daniel Pak

Can you tell me a little more about who Daniel Pak is?

I was born in Honolulu, HI, on the island of Oahu. I'm fourth generation Korean American. I'm fifth generation Japanese American. My first ancestors, my great grandparents, first got to Hawaii in 1875. This background influences my life and the work that I do by my strong connection to my roots. I always have. The way that I was raised, the people who I was around, everything, especially the food.

It was the family gatherings that brought us together. For example, on my Korean side, my grandmother who was born on a pineapple plantation, had ten brothers and sisters. When I was a child, I remember those gatherings. Her brothers and sisters married Japanese, Chinese, Filipino, Hawaiian, Samoan, Portuguese. I mean, when we had family gatherings, we had almost every ethnic group you could possibly find on the pineapple plantation. These were my blood cousins. As kids this is all that we knew. AND the food that was a diversely representative was all we knew. It was a melting pot on the table. To me that is the essence of who I am. It's the reason why I love to be in many different communities. It's why I feel like I play music, I feel like I'm playing for all my cousins and it's what I put on the table. It's the sharing of foods and culture and traditions.


Daniel Pak

Can you tell us more about your daily community work?

In a lot of ways, I consider Kore Ionz my night job. We rehearse at night, we create at night. We get together and have meetings at night. We write and talk at night. It's like the only time that all of us are able to get together because all of us have so many different things going on during the day.

My day job is a teaching artist. As teaching artist, it's our responsibility to give a powerful gift to youth is to be artists. When a student can see us, actively practicing our art, I feel that is the greatest gift. You can talk about right and wrong, and talk about discipline, and talk about the best way to do things...but it's more powerful if you show them what you do.

For example, yesterday I was doing an ukulele class in White Center for 5th and 6th graders. I told them let's do this exercise where we are all going to play a chord progression together. We're going to all go through whole notes, to half notes, to quarter notes, to eighth notes, and if you make a mistake, and you know that you made a mistake - I encourage your, I challenge you to stand up and go the corner. It's good to know that you made a mistake and begin to be accountable to yourself about it. At first it was kind of joking around and then after a while it became an understanding that you're taking responsibility and accountability of your mistake for yourself and also for everyone who is playing with you. The kids understood this. I even took a risk with one rhythm and I made a mistake. I messed up. So I stood up and I went to a corner. And the kids all started looking at me like, "What are you doing Pak?" "What do you mean, what am I doing? I messed up. I'm calling myself out." They were all like whoa, that's never happened before.

We can teach the kids and empower the kids by modeling this. It's ok to be creative. It's ok to express yourself. It's ok to make mistakes. It's ok to take risks.



Tell us about Kore Ionz the past, the current, and the future.

Kore Ionz has always been a musical group that's been influenced by reggae. Reggae has always been the common ground that has brought us together into this band. For all the snapshots of this band, since 2008, reggae has been the common denominator.

I will say this. Ever since Kore Ionz had first started, we never really had a clear identity. The reason for that is the whole mission of Kore Ionz. We've always been about welcoming people in. We've always been about Aloha. We've always been about, "Yeah, I'm cooking a lot of food at the house on Saturday night and you should come over and bring the family. Totally relaxed style. Come over. Come eat with us. Come play music." It's always been about that impromptu jam. It's about bringing together all these different souls. So really, Kore Ionz has never had a clear identity. We all agreed that we are doing some sort of reggae. We had members in the band from Bosnia, Brazil, Virgin Islands...it was all mixed up. In the current state of the band; we have members from Japan, the jazz community, the original b-boy community. I'm from Hawaii. So I guess at this point, for the first time since our inception, we are really trying to figure out what is our clear identity of Kore Ionz. So when we meet up we are really trying to lock up our sound. We are really trying to figure out our identity.

What I do know now, is that Kore Ionz is about celebrating life, celebrating love, its all about people coming together and spreading Aloha.

As the front person of this group, I've been told by fans that they love the connection they have to our music.

Please introduce us to the band.

Again my name is Daniel Pak. I'm the singer songwriter for Kore Ionz. I guess you can say I'm sort of the band leader. I like to do a lot of the production. I love being in the studio. I love the whole mixing process. I just like to be involved in all the creative processes of the band.

Teo Shantz is our drummer. I would say he's one of the main producers. He has a lot to do with the music direction. He and I have meetings about the aesthetics of the band and the direction of the group.

Masa Kobayashi is our bass player. He's really awesome at the ukulele and many other stringed instruments.

Ahkeenu Musa is our percussionist. He's been dabbling with a lot of electronic arrangments which is really cool. Akinu and I are the only two from the original five members.

The horn section or as they call themselves, "Pyramid" is comprised of Owuor Arunga, Greg Kramer, and Darian Asplund. Owuor and Greg are part of the Macklemore and Ryan Lewis camp. Darian completes the trio. They all got to know each other through the jazz scene. When these three are together, it is one sound, one beat of a sound.

Max Levin is on the keys. He's the newest and the youngest cat in the group. He's the most driven 19 year old I've ever met.

(Unfortunately due to time constraints, I had to email the other band members questions. Here are their answers)


Masa Kobayashi

Masa: I'm a bassplayer, my role is big booty. I've been in the band for a little less than a year. I'm from Tokyo Japan and played in African bands and Balkan Gypsy bands.

My favorite experience with Kore Ionz thus far was the Cd release party in April 2014 at the Crocodile Cafe. It was my first show with Kore Ionz. Sold out show!

My advice to aspiring musicians is, "Be a musician, not a "_______" player."


Ahkeenu Musa

Ahkeenu Musa: My roll in the Band is percussion and have been apart of it 11 amazing years.

I was born in Seattle and started music at an early age of 3yr old playing on pots and pans as well as first African Methodist episcopal church in Seattle. Having a strong spiritual music foundation has greatly influenced my work within the band.

My favorite experience thus far being with Kore Ionz is opening for Still pulse.

My advice to aspiring musicians is always center your self in music let it be the shoulder you lean on.

Owuor: I am the trumpet player in Kore Ionz.My role in the band is to turn up the Vibes to Maximum capacity. I've studied music from the best, at the best institutions, I love music, and I love the message of love and helping others less fortunate, and I have always used my gift to keep that spirit alive.

My favorite experience so far was our 2012 show opening for J Boog, to make a long story short, it was when I realized how genuine our friendship and camaraderie is.

There are no limits, anything you focus on you will achieve, anything you practice you will master, sharing music with others is the key to growth.


Greg Kramer

Greg: I play trombone in the band and also keyboard. I joined the band last Summer in June or July. I grew up in Seattle attending Garfield High School and playing jazz. From there my music taste branched out getting into hip-hop especially. I went to college for Engineering but also continued to play music and started to write music myself. A year and a half ago I quit my job in Biotech to tour with Macklemore and Ryan Lewis and have been doing music full time ever since.

As Kore Ionz is developing a new sound I feel my contribution comes from my knowledge of the intersection of Hip-hop, Jazz and pop music. I feel I have far more to learn than to share. It's hard to nail down a favorite moment. In such a short time, we've become very close..

A favorite moment would be eating San Fernando's Chicken in the sun after we played on New Day Northwest. Also whenever we play music.

My advice for aspiring musicians is; 1. Alway create, 2. Always say yes, and 3. Be nice.


Darian Asplund

Darian: I joined Kore Ionz back in 2012, first to fill in the saxophone slot that was vacant, when the previous saxophonist was too busy with other things and couldn't continue working with the group. Then one show became more shows, and soon I found myself to be in the care of Kore Ionz as a regular. Now, on top of being the saxophonist in the group, I also play the EWI (electronic wind instrument) and sing background vocals; whatever maximizes the band's potential. Also from time to time I fill in as a back up keyboardist and back up bassist.

I grew up in a musically inclined family. My mom and dad have been in a group together before I was born, and still from time to time sing and play guitar together. They would sing songs by Paul Simon and Crosby, Stills and Nash, among other artists. My brother played lots of different instruments, before settling into digital music, and becoming a Disk Jockey in the Industrial, EBM, electronic type scene. I would listen to my grandpa play old jazz classics on the piano, (pretty convenient since I later learned the technical side of music through jazz).

Being the only member in my family to pursue a career in music, I had gotten my Bachelors in music, and with that, a whole wealth of knowledge and experience, from learning from the professionals, to performing and recording with professionals, to becoming a professional musician in trade, mainly as a saxophonist.

Being in Kore Ionz, aside from playing as part of a horn section, and as a horn soloist, I do my best to bring to the table, an awareness for some of the things in our music that tend to be less attended to. Though Kore Ionz is an established band, mainly in the reggae genre, we continue to grow through added skill, knowledge and awareness. It is this growth that makes a big difference in delivering our collective sound to our audience/listeners.

My most favorite experience, by far, would have to have been when I went to Hawaii for the first time.

Our lead singer and our keyboardist at the time, are originally from Oahu, and would schedule flights from Seattle to there, for band related things. Of course there would be some downtime in between as well.

Being from the Pacific Northwest, I loved the warmth that Hawaii gave me, and the chance to go swimming in the ocean, something I rarely get the chance to do. Being there, I gained an appreciation for Korean food, and Hawaiian reggae music.

To all of those that are artists or aspiring to be an artists: Never stop learning. As much as people think it's a matter of "What it takes to be...," it is also the "journey to be..." You can set goals and strive to achieve them by whatever means, whether it's by giving or taking, gaining and sacrificing... But always be aware of your growth in this, and not take the simple things, even if they seem complex, lightly. "... Instead of making the 'simple,' complex, make the 'complex,' simple." An estimation of a Charles Mingus quote.


Max Levin

Max: I play keyboards in Kore Ionz, and have been with the group since June 2014! I grew up in the Seattle area, started playing piano when I was 5 years old, and started a band when I was 14. Since then, I've directed groups, delved into artist management, and more recently have gotten into music production. I think my work with Kore Ionz, or any musical venture for that matter, is heavily influenced by the involvement I've had on both the business and creative ends of the music industry. I try to be strategic and goal-oriented, while keeping an open mind and letting the creative process flow naturally.

I'm not sure I can pick one particular "favorite" moment. Pak's positive energy and the brotherly love these guys have fostered over the years makes for too many good memories, even over the relatively short time I have been playing with them.

My advice to an aspiring musician is to have an open line of communication and a sense of trust between you and the people you work with is overly important when creating an environment that's conducive to producing good content.

Today, February Friday the 13th 2015, Kore Ionz releases its newest video from the most recent EP, "Starship." Can you tell us more about the song and the video?

The director, Terrence Jeffrey Santos, came up with the idea to do the video for this song. He directed and produced our first three videos.

He hit me with a text one day and was like, "Hey Pak. Man, I gotta tell you Starships is my favorite song off the "Feels Good" EP. What do you think about doing a video with you on a bicycle riding around Seattle?" We started talking about it and started talking about the meaning of the song.
I wrote the song originally for my kids. I have 5 and 3 year old. I wrote the song for them. I wrote the song from a post-apocolyptic perspective. The human battle, the human struggle to share resources leads us to a place where our earth is in danger and maybe, just maybe, we have to consider the idea of moving. I mean moving to other planets. (laughs)

So I was thinking it was like as easy as catching a bus downtown, or a catch a plane to Hawaii. We would be able to catch a starship. The problem is that starships only show up certain locations and times. It's a really small VIP or guest list. (laughs)

The concept is that we all come from the belly of the beast and so where can we find the best example of a beautiful natural environment full of natural resources being depleted and transformed into an ugly industrialized monster. The first thing we could think about was the Duwamish River. I always tried to imagine what is like before the river was industrialized. Imagine it was beautiful place, fresh water, salmon for days, beautiful place to set up camp. Now you go to the Duwamish and see you rust and oil, plastic bottle, tug boats, plastic bottles and just plain filth. So we thought this is the symbol of what we want to move and get away from. So the video is a bike ride out of these industrialized areas back into lush forests and beautiful nature. I don't want to give away too much but basically this is our bike ride of those who are on the VIP list and we all ride to our rendezvous point. The place where we are to meet up and out of the sky drops a starship and takes us away.

Takes us away to a better place.



So what's next for Kore Ionz?

You know, we have no timeline right now. It feels good to be just free. It feels good to have open conversation every time we get together. We want to put out some new material as quick as possible. When? Maybe this year. I would love to put it out this year. We have a handful of songs that we are really excited about. I think it's our first time that we have come to terms with our musical identity so from there who knows. We're in this for the long run. In fact, we'll probably be still making music when it's time for us to put our names on the list for the next transport, the next starship to the next place.

Right now, making music and being creative is our role, it's our job, it's our contribution, and it's our responsibility. So we can keep offering that to everyone.

Expect a lot from Kore Ionz. Expect a lot like this Friday the 13th when stuff starts dropping out of the sky.

Without further ado and dropping out of the sky comes the exclusive premier of the Kore Ionz, "Starship" video.



To get on the next Starship VIP list, follow Kore Ionz:
Website // Facebook // Twitter // Instagram

Tonight I'm joined by actor and comedian Garrett Morris, one of the original cast members of Saturday Night Live. It has been 40 years since SNL made its debut on NBC featuring a group of seven talented young players who went on to become comedy legends: Dan Aykroyd, John Belushi, Chevy Chase, Jane Curtin, Gilda Radner, Laraine Newman, and, of course, Garrett Morris. Garrett continues to make audiences laugh with his role on CBS's 2 Broke Girls and at his blues and comedy club in Los Angeles. SNL's 40th Anniversary Special airs this Sunday on NBC.

In the clip below, I ask Garrett which of his many memorable SNL characters is his all-time favorite.

For more of our conversation, be sure to tune in to Tavis Smiley on PBS. Check our website for your local TV listings: www.pbs.org/tavis.