A winner here. Never a dull moment when two con artists fall in love. Will Smith is his usual adorable self, but here he is a tad wiser than his past characters have been and his love interest in the form of Margot Robbie burns the celluloid. But I am happy to say Ms. Robbie is treated with dignity and respect by the talented directors and also the writers, Glenn Ficarra and John Requa, who do not exploit her beauty--quite unlike Martin Scorsese who manipulated Ms. Robbie into gratuitous scenes of nudity in her performance in Wolf of Wall Street. And Ms. Robbie is beautiful. And she is a good actress. Her love scenes with Will Smith as Nicky Spurgeon, an accomplished con man, sizzle but do not dominate this screenplay. The plot and the story are the focus of Focus as Nicky teaches amateur con artist Jess the art of the con. Never take your eye off of the screen. Things happen lickety-split. What you see is not what you always get. Mystery! Surprise! Colorful locations! Buenos Aires! New Orleans! Filmed in IMAX Focus is visually splendid! Great camera work! Fast paced music that keeps the cat and mousette team gyrating their cons in and out of race tracks, Super Bowl extravaganzas, crowded streets in the belly of New Orleans at what could have been carnival. Terrific character actors keep getting in your face. B.D. Wong is a delight as a slimy gambler. Rodrigo Santoro is a handsome and sensual owner of race cars.

As Nicky teaches Jess the art of the con--the game--they slowly fall in love. Or do they? Do they fall in play? Are they playing each other? Can a con artist ever love? Or is a con artist an exploiter of emotions of all kinds? Is a con artist able to tell the truth? The question of the true feelings Nicky has for Jess is always the issue and will keep you glued to this screen like a detective in search of the elusive truth. But the end doeth provide. The journey for this truth is fun, fast paced and proves Focus to be a winner. A real winner. Not a con.

It happens every New Year's Eve as people all over the world, across cultures and continents, countdown to a midnight kiss. It's the chance to kiss on a turning point as the magical minute marks both happy endings and new beginnings with a brush of the lips. That kiss can be consequential. It can be a movie kiss.

It's been a while since I wrote "Ode to a First Kiss". That Los Angeles Times Calendar Weekend cover story seems to have taken on a life of its own as amorous readers found its message hit a nerve. The feature article celebrated some of the greatest first kisses in film history, while bemoaning the fact that the fine art of the first kiss seemed to have been lost in cinema as well as life. Not a lot has changed since then as the current crop of film kisses attest. But it's a new year, and the stars are aligned for romance.

To paraphrase that paragon of celestial affection Albert Einstein: "We are all related under the stars, because we are all made of stardust." Think of the kiss as the physics of love, a way to connect with the universe through the energy of another soul. It tunes you to the cosmos, while promising possibilities for better days. Think Cinderella as the clock strikes twelve, shoes firmly on feet and a prince on her lips. Sure beats kissing a frog - unless you're a frog yourself. So if you're wondering how to get the most bang from your big kiss buck, while the stars above light your path, why not let the stars on the silver screen show you the way. As if scripted for love, this New Year's night features a full moon, a perfect backdrop for that big crystal ball-drop and the perfect kiss. But with the right pair of lips, any moon will do.

In New Moon, the sequel to Twilight, teenage vampire Edward (Robert Pattinson) can never kiss Bella (Kristen Stewart), the human love of his eternal life, with complete abandon. To do so could cause him to lose control and devour her - literally. Their frustratingly cautious kisses are a necessity if she is to live for future films. Perhaps that is why teenage girls are so smitten with the series. It promises the romance of adolescent contact without the unwanted threat of adult sex. But what do you expect from a leading man whose primary redeeming quality is restraint? No, for a kiss with real bite, one needs the master of suspense.

Alfred Hitchcock filled his flicks with sensually shot smooches. They abound in films like Notorious, Rear Window and Spellbound (see the above link), but Hitch was just getting warmed up. In To Catch a Thief (1955), ever-debonair Cary Grant escorts the impossibly beautiful Grace Kelly to her hotel room in silence. She's barely uttered a syllable since they've met. She opens her door only to turn back with a confident look of determined sensuality and gives him a kiss that melts his socks as it steams up the screen in a way no ominous shower ever could, then shuts the door, her work done. The satisfied smirk on Grant's face tells us the next time they kiss there will be fireworks.

"If you really want to see fireworks, it's better with the lights out," she'll tease in a later scene as she turns off the room's lamps in preparation for the dazzling display seen out the window. With fireworks as manmade stardust, the metaphor is more fitting than cliché. "Just as long as you're satisfied," she'll say, smiling all kinds of innuendo, before their climactic kiss is intercut with the sparkling explosions in the night sky. With a kiss like that, who wouldn't be satisfied?

Contrast that with the current Up in the Air. George Clooney's barroom banter with curvy Vera Farmiga leads to her post-sex nude scene in which she lounges on the bed while he (only partially seen of course) recovers on the floor. There's no contact, let alone cuddling, as they aren't even on the same level. When they are seen kissing elsewhere, it's in the long shots that inhibit connection. The intimate close-up kiss comes later, in public when, at a wedding reception, Clooney awkwardly leans over to kiss her shoulder. The self-conscious display of his deepening affection is meant to show that the relationship, for him at least, isn't just sexual anymore. It's all very sweet in the moment and works for the film, but if someone kissed me like that at midnight on New Year's Eve, they'd be laid out on the Times Square pavement. His observation, "life's better with company," is an epiphany for the character that alone will have to suffice.

To see the breathtaking kind of epiphany kiss good banter can really lead to, one must go back to 1940. The Philadelphia Story is teaming with verbal fencing as foreplay. As a tipsy Katharine Hepburn babbles on, enamored James Stewart suddenly stops her mouth with the type of good old fashioned movie kiss they apparently don't make anymore. "Golly," is all she manages to exhale as she swoons in his arms. A second kiss gets a "Golly Moses." It takes her breath away...and ours. Golly indeed.

But don't expect to be swept off your feet with our present-day blockbusters. This past year's Star Trek featured a young Spock (Zachary Quinto) and Uhura (Zoe Saldana) as a romantic item. (Captain's log: Spock has emotions and Uhura has the hots for him!) They'll kiss before he beams off to danger, but it is her superior de-coding language know-how that'll come to the rescue. In the end, unfathomably, she won't even be considered along with Spock and his rival candidates to become Kirk's first officer. Apparently, no amount of smooching or save-the-day skills can break a glass ceiling, even on Starship's progressive Enterprise. Perhaps filmmakers can use the resentment that would logically be born from that realization as the source of the rift that must come between Uhura and Spock if they are to ultimately conform their relationship to that of their older TV characters. A sequel to the prequel awaits. Who kisses in it remains to be seen.

In the meantime, for a kiss between equals, check out the original The Thomas Crown Affair. In that 1968 film, craggily sexy Steve McQueen (will someone please cast Daniel Craig to play him in a biopic?) as a master thief meets his match in stunning Faye Dunaway's insurance investigator. With her chiseled cheekbones and exquisitely coiffed hair and couture, she's like a moving sculpture, like the queen in their game of Chess. Their match is more than just a board game. It's a contest of wills played as grand seduction. Their real moves are around the game's pieces: they swirl their brandy, she bites her lip, he drums his fingers, she caresses exposed skin, until he lifts her by an arm to utter his proposed draw - "let's play something else" - and then pulls her into a twirling series of sticky kisses as the camera dances around them, their forms melting into a kaleidoscopic swirl of orgasmic golden color.

Now that's a big smooch. Still, the best buss of this past year was not in a big film. It came in the small scale, but hugely charming, (500) Days of Summer. In that delightful confection, Tom (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) crushes on officemate Summer (Zooey Deschanel) from afar until one day, during the mundane task of making photocopies, she suddenly presses herself to him for the kind of kissing that turns his daydreams to reality. Later, after they first make love, his reality becomes a daydream as he saunters through the streets in celebration, mouthing the Hall and Oats song "You Make My Dreams Come True," bringing the whole world - and audience - with him. Pedestrians and vendors, swept up in his afterglow, dance along in an impromptu parade. Someone hands him a bat for a home run swing. Cartoon lovebirds chirp above. Even Hall and Oats join the euphoric ride. Everything's better.

Because that's what a great kiss can do. It's all of your favorite things rolled into one on the tip of your tongue. It's fireworks night at a baseball game when your pitcher's perfect. It's those chocolate hazelnut truffles by Godiva that melt in your mouth. It's Mozart's 39th Symphony racing towards its joyous conclusion and that piccolo that finds heaven at the end of Beethoven's Fifth. It's an Elton John/Bernie Taupin ballad, and Fred and Ginger dancing on air. It's where the celestial meets the cinematic, and the cerebral and sexual merge. So this New Year's, make your first kiss a movie kiss. And if you don't have someone to kiss at midnight, don't worry. The year is young. Your match in stardust may be coming just around the corner, your own bit of heaven on earth.

Note: To read more about great movie kisses, go here.

One day last June, the desire to watch Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman came to me in a flash. I have no idea why. Maybe I was thinking about putting my hair in a top-bun, or maybe I was visited by an angel. Some things we'll never know. 8 months later, I am on the 7th and final season and am starting to think about what it all means. This now obscure (no thanks to you, Netflix) show about a lady doctor in 1867 Colorado Springs was once so beloved that its 1998 cancellation inspired a full on "Save Dr. Quinn" campaign, which forced CBS to produce two Dr. Quinn films. I totally get it. There are so many, many things to love about this show. But the thing I love the most is DQ herself. Here's why:

She's fucking fearless.
When DQ can't find doctor work in closed-minded Boston, she up and moves to the Colorado territory as a lone, unmarried woman because THAT'S HOW BAD SHE WANTS TO DO GOOD. No phones, no email. Only Horace, the town's golden-hearted half-wit telegraph operator to bring news of home. And homesickness is the least of her troubles. Over the next 6 seasons, DQ confronts countless daunting medical quandaries, the entire town on a variety of social and racial issues, the army, the Klan, 3 different Native American tribes, corrupt miners, 2 different bands of outlaws, her overbearing mother, over formerly-nice-but-now-overbearing uncle, a legion of condescending male medical colleagues, a stampede of cattle, wild horses, buffalo, foreclosure, many superhuman tasks while pregnant and ultimately the miracle of birth, and 3 men who attempt to assassinate president Grant. The woman is nothing shy of a fortress.

She's generous to a fault.
Three days into DQ's stint in the wild (she's never before been without servants to dress her) one of her patients DIES OF A SNAKE BITE and bequeaths DQ her 3 blond children with her dying breath. And that is just the first HALF of the pilot. Over the next 6 seasons, DQ adopts no less than 20 children (she gives many of them back), feeds and shelters anyone who crosses her path regardless of race, ethnicity, gender, or creed, and performs medicine on hundreds upon thousands of people who pay her in things like pie and table repairs. In short, she is the Mother Teresa of the 19th century.

She takes rejection like a champ.
It is easy to forget in later seasons when the whole town sees DQ through rose-colored glasses how she first has to fight like a rip-roaring tigress to gain a foothold in simple Colorado Springs. Not only will the illiterate townsfolk not accept that she is doctor, they won't rent her a space to practice, or even a house to live in all because she is a woman. She actually has to let Jake the barber/mayor yank out one of her teeth to gain the trust of the locals, many of whom fear books, and it is another few seasons before the town finally grudgingly admits that books aren't so bad and neither are lady doctors and accepts that she is there to stay. Obviously when they do it feels like rainbows.

She's extremely fair.
One of my real soft spots for DQ is that she is both extremely judgmental and extremely open-minded at the same time. She has an opinion about EVERYTHING and really likes to be IN CHARGE; she simply cannot help but butt into other people's business, which annoys the shit out of the townsfolk of Colorado Springs/ the army/ the Cheyenne tribal leaders at first. But eventually her hyper-logical Volcan brain wears them all down, and one by one they are forced to cede to her greatness because she is ALWAYS ON THE SIDE OF THE RIGHT. She does not care if the solution comes from a bottle or from the bark of a willow tree SO LONG AS IT BREAKS THE FEVER. She is as omnipresent and neutral as life itself.

She's kind.
People are constantly flinging their angry, unresolved-childhood, woman-hating shit at DQ because she dares to shine. And while she never fails to stand up for herself and HANDLE IT, she always takes the highroad. Even though she is smarter, more capable, more dexterous, more logical, more fair, more educated, more open-minded, better groomed, and just better than all the meanies she interacts with, she never sinks to their level and always treats them with respect even as they threaten to take away her husband/homestead/children/medical license/friends/burn her. Why? Because she's a saint. Also, because she will probably have to operate on them at some point and she can't afford another mal-practice suit after what happened in season 5. But mostly because she has a heart as wide as the Colorado plains.

She's super pretty...and couldn't give less of a fuck.
If DQ and Princess Leia ever enter into a braid-off, I seriously hope the judges take the following into account: a) Princess Leia has royal hairdressers b) Princess Leia lives in space where the air is clean and gravity can't take a toll on her locks and c) DQ DOES IT ALL HERSELF IN A DUSTY HOMESTEAD WITHOUT CONDITIONER OR MIRRORS OR ANYTHING BUT RIBBONS AND A FINE-TOOTHED COMB. Not that this matters, because DQ only does her hair that way to be PRACTICAL so that she can focus on healing every troubled soul on this earth. Seriously, she only brushes her hair to get out her ANXIETY. Because she knows that that kind of beauty is only SKIN DEEP and doesn't last and she's all about highly substantial things like beauty of the heart and child adopting.

Even though she's absurdly smart, she cares more about character.
Although she herself doesn't give a shit about how gorgeous/ talented she is, DQ can't help that she is the most eligible maiden wherever she goes. Over the course of the show, she is proposed to by no less than 4 men, engaged to 3 (4 if you count both of her engagements to Sully) and by my count, 10 profess their love to her. The final roster of admirers includes a slew of drunk patients, Sully, a reverend, 2 doctors, and a super rich miner/ sheriff (You're right. She is the Bachelorette of 1867). But although she values intelligence and success, she ultimately remains true to her connection with Sully because he's the most honorable man she knows. It has absolutely nothing to do with his baby blues or how good he looks in buckskin and everything to do with his rad moral compass.

She gets that she doesn't get everything.
It goes without saying that a show about a lady doctor in 1867 is about crossing gender lines. What is less obvious is that the mirror has two faces, and that a man is actually the emotional bedrock of the show and DQ's life. The only person to ever walk the earth who is more emotionally in tune than Sully is Cheryl Strayed, and I honestly think she might be Sully reincarnated. Sully has suffered and survived a staggering amount of loss for one human--orphaned as a young child, then nearly killed while working in a mine, then used for capital gains as a sniper in the Civil War, then widowered (his first wife Abigail dies while having their daughter, Hannah), then adopted by the Cheyenne only to lose them in a gruesome two-parter about the battle of Washita-- so while DQ views everything as black and white, Sully tends to have a more nuanced perspective. DQ and the children and his wolf would be lost without him.

Even though she's tough as nails, she's a total sweetheart.
Not only is Sully the emotional lodestone of Colorodo Springs, he is also the babe. I have never seen a serious show where the man is exhibited the way that Sully is, and I fucking love it. DQ is super prudish and often gets mad at Sully for such presumptions as reading Walt Witman out loud because it's too arousing (don't worry, she comes around by the time Walt visits Colorado Springs in Season 5) so most of the action pre-wedding is metaphorical--DQ and Sully literally jump off a cliff together when they get engaged, that sort of thing. When they finally get around to doing the deed (which they do ON A MOVING TRAIN on a bed that Sully carved with his two sinewy hands) it's a big deal. And DQ is all about it which is fucking adorable because SHE IS THE MOST INDEPENDENT WOMAN. EVER. And even she has a soft side that gets girlish and distracted when a hunky dude is thrown in the mix.

She trusts herself.
Not all of DQ's unshakable confidence is derived from her incredible medical prowess, but most of it is. Over the course of the series, she performs brain surgery, plastic surgery, intubation, vaccinations, thousands of stitches, bone resetting, lung draining, fluid draining, a mastectomy, and also deals with the likes of Hepatitis, Tuberculosis, Fevers, Cancer, Staff Infections, PTSD, Typhus, Tetanus, The Grip, The Influenza, The Rabies, and The Diphtheria all on a wooden table. She also helps birth 3 babies and a cow baby, and she herself gives birth under a tree (obviously Sully's there ready with open heart and hands). But she's also just a closer in general; she thinks everything through and never loses faith that where there's a will there's a way. Her belief is so powerful that it inspires all of Colorado Springs to be better and also me, 148 years down the road.

The year 1983 was a great year in my life. I graduated high school, bought my first car, and Eddie Murphy came out with Delirious. A classmate loaned me the tape one day and explained that Murphy was very funny. I remembered him from SNL, so I figured it would be a great standup routine. Unfortunately, that's all my friend told me.

I was attending college locally and still living with my parents and two younger siblings, so I couldn't wait to get home that evening and share it with my family. I slid the tape into the VCR and took my seat. Not long into Murphy's routine, however, I jumped off the sofa and couldn't turn it off fast enough.

I looked over at my dad with my best apologetic expression and I could see the heat signatures radiating from his head. My dad was a mean cuss, a white Southern farmer who used the "N" word like there was no tomorrow, but vulgarities, especially of a sexual nature, we're not allowed in his house.

I would of course watch it later by myself, and then again and again and again. It was the funniest thing I had ever seen or heard. The blatant and total disregard for social norms and the outrageous language catered to my generation. We loved Eddie and loved him more for making our parents hate and fear him.

At the time there was only one black man my dad would watch on TV, not counting football players and boxers. You guessed it -- Bill Cosby. He was America's dad. Cliff Huxtable. He was wholesome and pure. And my dad, who had a racial streak down the middle of his soul a mile wide, loved him.

My dad died 12 years ago, so he lived long enough to see Eddie Murphy transform into a mild-mannered star of several family-themed movies. But he wouldn't watch them. Murphy was still evil in his eyes. Nothing could change that.

And I guess it's a good thing that Dad died before the allegations started mounting for Bill Cosby. I'm not sure how he would have reacted, but I'm sure he wouldn't have believed them.

I don't know if the allegations against Cosby are true, but knowing how many women have now come forward, and how many had come forward going all the way back to 1969 but never got the media attention that the new accusers are getting, I'm inclined to believe the old adage "Where there's smoke there's fire."

I don't know what's true about Eddie Murphy anymore either. He is almost a recluse and so afraid of offending anyone that he wouldn't even portray Bill Cosby on the SNL 40 special. So we've all lost something from our earlier years.

I've often heard it said that things are never as they seem. Is it possible that the young foul-mouthed Eddie Murphy and the likes of Richard Pryor were the good guys all along? I know I want to believe that. I loved those guys. And is it possible that Bill Cosby, the very image of purity in America, was in fact the villain?

All I can say is that it's true that fact is stranger than fiction. It's a topsy-turvy world. The only consistency I've had in my life is my dad. When he was a young man, he was a mean racial cuss. Before he died at age 68, he was the same mean racial cuss.

I guess I should be thankful that some things never change.

For the past seven months I've been working on a book about how to make a dream come true.

And to be honest, before I wrote that sentence I had to look at my calendar to see when I started this thing. I was originally going to write "for the past three months." It's actually been seven.

That realization made me cry a little. It's been that long, I thought. Oh my gosh, is this really going to be worth all this time and effort? Am I crazy?

Because for the past few days the road in front of me felt oddly long. And I think it's because I'm right in that thing we call "the middle." I'm setting out to interview at least 100 people about a dream they've achieved, and as of this moment I've interviewed exactly 52 people.

I'm in the "Wednesday" of my project, and Friday feels farther away than it did on Monday, somehow.

"The middle" has me feeling a little sad, a little lethargic, a little hopeless. I do my routine just the same. I plan my day, doing the tasks that have become my full time job for the past few months - reaching out to amazing people to interview, preparing for calls, doing research.

The calls themselves are the highlight of everything; they always brighten my day and remind me what this book is all about.

But it's the time in between that can be the hardest. The time when I wonder if any of this incremental work will actually turn out the way I'm dreaming it will.

Would this be another thing I hope for that doesn't pan out?

I found myself listing "almosts" in my journal this morning - all the amazing things that almost happened to me in the past few years but didn't, like Harvard. Not something I recommend but hey, no journal judgement, right? I needed to do this, needed to validate what I was feeling. And what happened next surprised me. I had a conversation with myself that went like this:

Will all this get me where I want to go?

I honestly don't know.

Can I stop?

Nope.

I smiled as that word and sentiment reminded me of Leslie Knope from Parks and Recreation.

I had been thinking about her a lot lately as the series wrapped this week. I'd always loved the show but had never fully made the philosophical leap to connect myself with Leslie. The show just made me happy; I'd never analyzed why.

Working on this book for the past seven months had gotten me thinking a lot about dreams, dreamers, positivity, dedication, and persistence. The character of Leslie embodies all of those things, a character whose actions always answer the question with, "Can you stop?" with a metaphorical "Nope."

Sometimes other characters in the show do react to her as if she's crazy. Sometimes they don't understand her persistence. We see the beauty in all these personalities working together. But, honestly, seeing Leslie's crazy was the most relieving part for me. I love the non-Leslie's in my life too, and like her, need them desperately. But I am without a doubt a Leslie "Nope." I've learned I can't run from that. And Leslie has taught me that maybe I shouldn't want to. That even when you feel crazy, even when others think you're crazy - maybe that doesn't have to be a bad thing.

Maybe it means you're on to something.

Maybe it means that your persistence will pay off.

Don't get me wrong, I think stopping is okay. As we saw in the show Leslie moved on to new jobs, new adventures. She knew when to move on, how to dedicate her energies in the places where she could have the greatest impact. She was smart.

But no matter what her newest project or job, she was consistent in her caring and trying. Leslie helped me remember that caring too much and trying too hard is okay if you feel like that's who you are. She reminded me that if you feel like you can't stop then maybe you shouldn't.

The idea for this book I'm working on about dreams actually came from a dark moment when I was chastising myself for caring too much and trying too hard. I was wondering if I was wrong to dream, if I needed to stop. Stop caring. Stop dreaming. Stop trying so dang hard.

In the series finale of Parks and Recreation we learn that Leslie wrote that she wanted to be governor of Indiana in her "kindergarten dream journal."

Leslie is a dreamer, I thought. I wondered how I hadn't recognized it before.

In that same episode Leslie goes on to talk about the work that she and her team have done, the "small incremental change every day."

That's what I'm learning as I interview people who have achieved a dream. It's all slow change and small steps, every single day. It really doesn't happen overnight. And that's why it's so hard to achieve a dream.

Because you don't always notice the small stuff each day. We hear success stories like we see flowers growing on a timelapse camera, sped up for maximum emotional impact. When in reality if you stared at that flower every day it would be hard to see it's growth. You might wonder sometimes if it's growing at all. You might want to stop watching. Stop trying.

When you have those days, ask yourself: "can I stop?"

If the answer is "nope" just smile. Know you're onto something, even if it doesn't end up where you think.

Try hard and care a lot. It's what the cool kids are doing now, don't you know?

Dreamers care hard and try hard. I haven't talked to one person who's achieved a dream who didn't try or didn't care an above-average amount.

As I watched the series finale of Parks and Recreation this week I was overwhelmed with the sense that Leslie was giving me permission to try and care as much as I can.

I think that's what her character has done for a lot of people.

And most importantly, the character of Leslie Knope shows us that aspiration isn't something you have to be ashamed of, that it can be beautiful, and that dreaming big is a-okay. I can't speak for everyone, but for me, as a woman, sometimes I just wasn't sure what to do with my ambition. Sometimes I wasn't sure if it was in line with the other parts of me.

Leslie has reminded me that you can be both loving and ambitious, and that maybe, in fact, that's the only kind of ambition that really creates something worth striving for.

The dust from Oscar season has settled. The sky has opened up to reveal a glorious scene of birds chirping and a maternal, loving sun. Buds of creativity are in blossom as the next crop of films begin their festival circuit ascent. All is right with the world.

In moments of reflection, I think about how the 2014 film awards fervor transformed entire careers -- Michael Keaton being an obvious example. It is my hope, however, that the trickledown effect of six months of campaigning extends to more than just a former super hero star turned character actor.

I'm referring, mostly, to Rene Russo.

In fact, Russo's sublime work in Nightcrawler was not even recognized by the Academy. That didn't stop her from winning Best Supporting Actress Award from the San Diego Film Critics Society. She also raked up nominations from BAFTA, Denver Film Critics Society, Detroit Film Critics Society, Online Film & Television Association, and more. The National Society of Film Critics gave her third place, while LAFCA made her their runner-up.

She got about as close as an actor can get to Oscar attention without securing love from the Globes or SAG.

The oversight is irrelevant, as Nightcrawler garnered Russo unprecedented critical praise for her work, and renewed attention from millions of fanboys. And this coming from an actress whose appeared in the MCU, Marvel Cinematic Universe.

The acclaim lavished on Russo is well-deserved, highlighting an unheralded Hollywood career. Russo did not make her screen debut until her mid-thirties following a career modeling. Actresses well into their thirties like Kate Winslet and Reese Witherspoon are considered legacies, already transitioning into roles as moms and heavies. But 1989 introduced filmgoers to the late-blooming Russo in Major League. She was in her late 30s by the time she was cast in the Lethal Weapon franchise, and featured prominently into In the Line of Fire.

What is unique about Russo -- besides her unquestioned beauty -- is the combination of elegance and intelligence she brings to her characters. And, more remarkably, she always romanced characters in her age, a rare feat in an industry constantly casting young actresses in May-December romances. In 1995 and 1996, she held her own opposite John Travolta in Get Shorty, Dustin Hoffman in Outbreak, Kevin Costner in Tin Cup, and Mel Gibson in Ransom.

Her work in Get Shorty particularly stands out. Burdened with a stupid boyfriend in Gene Hackman, Russo is an aging scream queen who relies on her brains to outmaneuver the bad guys. It's a wry Hollywood satire that ultimately rewards Russo's Karen, who overcomes industry sexism by becoming a high-powered producer. It's quintessential Russo: whip-smart, self-aware and unafraid to challenge her often legendary co-stars.

At age 45, Russo seduced both audiences and Pierce Bronsnan with her sexy, alluring work in The Thomas Crown Affair. (Not to mention a generation of teenage boys.) I don't intend hagiography, but it's refreshing that an actress well into middle age was first cast, then embraced for such a blatantly sexual, yet affirmative role. In this regard, Russo has few peers.

Of course, the downside is Russo was mostly utilized as a love interest throughout her career. And two exceptions - opportunities to demonstrate range/ carry a film on her own -- were both dismal flops: Buddy and the Adventures of Rocky & Bullwinkle.

She spent the past decade sidelined besides her thankless work in the Thor series, which is why it was a pleasure seeing her return to prominence in Nightcrawler last year. Naturally, the film's writer-director was her husband, Dan Gilroy.

Now 61, Russo has another chance to secure her quiet legacy. Meryl Streep single-handedly dominates the conversation as the most prolific actress of her generation, and the new wave of female-driven projects seem primed to a younger batch of actresses. But we should not forget Russo's ineffable presence, an old movie star charm rarely seen these days. How many other actresses have held their own with the likes of Clint Eastwood? (Answer, as always: Streep.)

Luckily, Russo is next showing up in a movie by Nancy Meyers, a filmmaker with a Nora Ephron-like tendency to give good parts to middle-aged actresses. (Again, see Streep.)

Many often disparage the endless cycle of awards, and most of the time they are right. However, if the (inadvertent) exposure gave an actress like Russo a second shot who might've otherwise been consumed by mainstream film's ageism, it can't be all bad. Onward with the comeback.

The question is: does Hollywood have a place for her?

John Currin at Gagosian Gallery opening night. Photo by EMS.

"I find I can't get rid of my trashiness as an artist. A lot of my themes in painting, to the extent that there are intentional themes, are meant to bring that conundrum into high relief." -- John Currin


John Currin and his family with Larry Gagosian. Photo by EMS.


A reverie of patrons, collectors, movie stars and moochers. Photo by EMS.

The Gagosian Gallery in Beverly Hills held its pre-Oscar exhibition with New-York-based master painter, John Currin. The opening was held this past Thursday, February 19th. Currin arrived with his wife and children by his side, and although this was Currin's night to shine, he adoringly gave his family most of his attention. Having covered hundreds of openings in my career, I can say that the whimsical display of Currin and his beautiful wife and accomplished artist, Rachel Feinstein, playing with their kids in the hallowed hall of the Gagosian's empire, seemed as if a fairy tale was unfolding right before my eyes.


John Currin with his wife Rachel Feinstein and the kids. Photo by EMS.


Mick Jagger of the Rolling Stones. Photo by EMS.

Larry Gagosian was beaming with excitement in seeing the Currin kids having so much fun. It was like a family reunion of sorts, amidst the awestruck crowd of patrons, collectors and art world moochers. The kids even hammed it up for my camera, at one point asking if I could take their pictures, as to kill a little time before they were swept away to an exclusive post dinner at Mr. Chow's down the street.


Filmmaker Wes Anderson's film, 'The Grand Budapest Hotel' was up for nine Academy Award nominations. Photo by EMS.

Currin was signing books with distinguished gentleman, while Rachel Feinstein led Elton John on a docent tour of the exhibition. All the while salivating bystanders were snapping their smartphones, and burning up their Instagram. Elton John was grand as usual. I broke my lens when I was trying to get pictures of his shoes. It fell out of my bag and made a sickening thud on the floor. The filter shattered, but I had two more lenses.


Elton John in full regalia. Photo by EMS.


Who can guess the shoes worn by Rachel Feinstein and Elton John? Photo by EMS.

As I posted the event in real-time through social media, many in the art world felt shattered themselves, as they were not in attendance. They did not even know that Currin had an opening. It made me wonder, how did you NOT know this? It also made me ponder the parallels... you're at home... and the art world magnates are here. In the same way the legends are at the Oscars and the wannabee actors are at home wishing they were at the Kodak.


Jesus Christ and Mr. Chow. Photo by EMS.

It is what it is. This was no fairy tale night for those dreaming at home with little butterflies of confusion and angst wondering, "How did I miss this event?" For many in the room it was a vivid reality of a zenith of success as Escalades and Bentleys were loitering outside. This is the place that slated Currin a pre-Oscar party, an A-list venue, and an A-list restaurant.


Julian Sands. photo by EMS.


Harvey Keitel. Photo by EMS.

Then there was Harvey Keitel who stole the show for me as people were fainting over Mick Jagger. Interesting that I had recently and randomly watched Taxi Driver a few nights before. I spent that night wondering what life may have been like for him if he had remained cast in Apocalypse Now. From there I recognized Julian Sands from one of my favorite films, Leaving Las Vegas. While Mr. Chow was taking pictures with Jesus Christ, the illustrious directors of LA/LACMA/MOCA/INC. showed up looking distinguished as ever.


LACMA director Michael Govan and his wife, Katherine Ross. Photo by EMS.


Michael Wincott. Photo by EMS.

It was a night to remember for Larry Gagosian and it was surely a night to remember for John and Rachel, but perhaps, in the end, it was mostly a night the kids would never forget.


John Currin's kids. Photo by EMS.

This article is part of an ongoing photojournalism survey of art exhibition openings titled EMS N(art)rative. Through my lens I document a photographic essay or visual "N(art)rative" that captures the happenings, personalities, collectors, gallerists, artists, and the art itself; all elements that form the richly varied and textured fabric of the SoCal art world. This reconnaissance offers a unique view for serious art world players to obtain news and information on the current pulse of what's in the now, yet capturing timeless indelible images for posterity and legacy. Here is EMS N(art)rative Sixteen.


John Currin. Photo by EMS.

Now that the Academy Awards are over and American Sniper was shot down in the best picture category by Birdman, it seems an appropriate time to reflect on the movie -- not in terms of its quality, but in terms of what its overwhelming box office popularity says about us as Americans.

American Sniper grossed $90 million in the states in its January 16 opening weekend of wide distribution. This was accomplished in what is normally a very slow month for movie attendance. By the time the Awards rolled around, American Sniper had taken in approximately $320 million from nearly 40 million viewers in the domestic market in just about five weeks.

The question is why did so many Americans venture out to see this film -- especially given the frigid temperatures across much of the nation? There is no one single answer.

Some of the moviegoers went because they like "war" movies. Others went because they heard this was a complex story about the conflict between what goes on in the battlefront for soldiers versus what happens on the home front. Others went because they like to be entertained.

There are undoubtedly a diverse set of other reasons that brought folks to the movie theater. There is one defining factor, however, that, in the main, unites all of these moviegoers and speaks volumes about the American psyche today. That is we are becoming a spectator nation.

This is true on many fronts from social media, political participation, sporting events, to the way in which we communicate with one another.

In this electronic era of streaming, Facebook, selfies, Instagrams and Snapchats, virtual reality is becoming the new reality. Flesh and blood is being supplanted by pixels and soundbytes.

This shift is troublesome in all areas because it minimizes personal interaction and reduces the human connection. It is especially problematic when it impacts the manner in which we think about and look at military service, war and warriors.

In prior periods -- World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War -- military service or some form of service to country was a fact of life for many and in some way impacted the lives of most American families. Today, the vast majority of Americans have no such experience or exposure.

This changes the concept of service to someone else's duty or business. It creates a group that does not have to grapple directly with the consequences and casualties of war. It converts patriotism to a passive act of flag waving, saying thanks for your service and board the plane first.

As James Fallows puts it in his recent article for The Atlantic titled, "The Tragedy of the American Military," "This reverent but disengaged attitude toward the military -- has become so familiar that we assume it is the American norm."

Sadly, it is the norm. And, that norm widens the gulf between those who inhabit the civilian world and those who inhabit the military one.

Matt Richtel in his New York Times article, captures the distance between those worlds as follows,

To some recent vets -- by no stretch all of them -- the thanks comes across as shallow, disconnected, a reflexive offering from people, who while meaning we'll, have no clue what soldiers did over there or what motivated them to go, and who would never have gone themselves nor sent their sons or daughters.

This brings us back to American Sniper. The movie, adapted from his memoir of the same name, tells the story of Chris Kyle, a Navy SEAL.

Kyle served four tours in Iraq. He was in harms way, did harm, came back harmed and was harmed. He killed an estimated 160 people as a sniper in Iraq, returned to this country with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and was killed on a shooting range by a troubled veteran whom he was trying to help.

Bradley Cooper who portrays Kyle in the movie is currently playing the extremely disfigured Joseph Merrick as the Elephant Man on Broadway. During an interview with Terry Gross of National Public Radio, Cooper stated,

I see more similarities between Joseph and Chris than differences and I'll explain what I mean. Chris, if you watch any interview with him -- [he's] not very animated physically, it's all in his eyes. He doesn't even move his head that much and always had a dip in his mouth so his lower lip was always sort of protruded... And also the Texas accent, it's a very closed mouth way of talking. He had to express a lot of what he was feeling and doing through his eyes and his voice -- very similar to Merrick, so I actually see a lot of similarities in terms of the approach of the way these two men walked through their lives.

Cooper doesn't say this but there is one other striking similarity between the two. Joseph Merrick because of his physical deformities became a side show attraction for audiences in London and Belgium. Kyle because of the film has attracted audiences, or as we have labeled them spectators, as well.

We assume that many viewers of American Sniper audience believe they are honoring the memory of Kyle by seeing the movie. But, seeing the movie is not nearly enough.

To do true honor to Kyle and the other members of our volunteer military force, we need to get off of the sidelines and become proactively engaged as full-fledged American citizens.

As Joseph Epstein reports, Mike Mullen, former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, has stated,

The next time we go to war the American people should have to say yes. And that would mean a half a million people who weren't planning to do this would have to be involved in some way. They would have to be inconvenienced. That would bring America in. America hasn't been in these previous wars. And we are paying dearly for that.

We agree with General Mullen's perspective. But,we think that this need for renewed and enhanced commitment should not be limited to military service.

It should extend to a program of national service and to increased and enhanced participation by citizens of all ages and political persuasions. (For more of our thoughts in this regard, read these two blogs we posted to the Huffington Post in the past.)

Chris Kyle was treated for PTSE Eddie Ray Routh the veteran who was just found guilty of Kyle's murder was also treated for PTSD. To date, more than one quarter of the veterans who saw active duty in Iraq and Afghanistan have been treated for PTSD.

American Sniper is one man's story. It is the story of a warrior and a human being who loved his country and his family who bore the burden and paid the price. It could have easily been called "American Tragedy."

Unfortunately, it is also the story of many other men and women who have suffered injuries and been traumatized by fighting in wars and repeat visits to places where only they were asked to go. It will be an American tragedy if in the future we ask those brave souls to continue to go it alone and to do our bidding.

A recent CBS poll showed that 57 percent of those surveyed favored ground troops to combat ISIS. This compares to only 39 percent in favor in September of 2014.

One wonders if the percent in support of using ground troops would be as high if the respondents were told that such a deployment would require re-instituting the draft and providing relief to those who have been on the front lines over and over again.

It is time to answer that question. It is time to get out of the spectator mode. It is time to stand and deliver for those who have done so for us.

To get regular updates on what Frank and Ed are writing and reading, subscribe to their newsletter by going to the following link: http://bit.ly/pivotsignup

Singer and superstar Lady Gaga got engaged to her longtime boyfriend Taylor Kinney on Valentine's Day weekend. He gave her a one-of-a-kind huge heart-shaped engagement ring that includes a T and S for their initials. We could all see it sparkling on her finger when she sang at the Academy Awards on Sunday. It harkens back to young love when everyone would write their initials in a heart, and is both romantic and lavish. So what does the magnitude of her engagement ring mean for everyone else -- her followers and fans? Does it raise the bar, and possibly make non-celebrity couples who are now getting engaged feel that they have to do something extraordinary and unique in order to make their partner feel special?

Getting engaged is a big deal, and not just because of the ring. There are so many details and elements to consider as you figure out the best way to make it exceptional for both of you. Of course, there is no denying that the ring has become symbolic of the whole event. For Lady Gaga, that has certainly been something the press has been focusing on. She and her ring are both distinctive, and seem to suit each other perfectly. While that is wonderful for her, it is important to keep in mind that we are all original and rare, so what might be perfect for her won't necessarily be right for you. Your ring can be remarkable without having to be a showstopper.

The idea that an engagement ring has to be original, handmade and/or very expensive can skew what everyone hopes for, and if those expectations are too high you might end up missing the point of what you are actually doing -- which is pledging your love to each other and agreeing to spend your lives together. I have seen many women who were let down by the ring they received because it wasn't the size, style or stone they had wished for. The engagement ring speaks to commitment and endurance, and the willingness to go the distance with your partner. With that in mind, try to keep what you envisioned realistic to the man you are with, the resources he has, as well as his interest and taste in jewelry. Just because he doesn't design it or get you as big a ring as your girlfriend may have received doesn't mean you are loved less. That way, whatever ring you receive will be testimony of his love and desire to share his future with you. So when he pops the question and holds out the much-anticipated ring he chose for you, it can usher in excitement rather than disappointment. Keep it about for better or worse, rather than for bigger or worse.

The bottom line is that an engagement ring does not have to be the only one of its kind, over-the-rainbow-fabulous to symbolize the love you share for each other and the commitment you are making to each other. For Lady Gaga it is a huge diamond heart, for you it might be something else, possibly not even a diamond but an emerald or a ruby. In the end, though, you both hope the ring will lead you to the same place -- bringing in a life full of love and adventure together.

Please tune in to the Doctor on Call radio hour on HealthyLife.net every Tuesday at 2 PM EST, 11 AM PST. First and third Tuesdays are Shrink Wrap on Call, second Tuesdays are HuffPost on Call, and the last Tuesday of the month is Let's Talk Sex! Email your questions dealing with relationships, intimacy, family, and friendships to Dr. Greer at askdrjane@drjanegreer.com.

Connect with Dr. Jane Greer on Facebook, at www.facebook.com/DrJaneGreer, and be sure to follow @DrJaneGreer on Twitter for her latest insights on love, relationships, sex, and intimacy.

For more on Dr. Greer, visit http://www.drjanegreer.com.

A Conversation with Somi

Mike Ragogna: Somi, after speaking to your Uncle Hugh Masekela, you decided that you wanted to go to Lagos, Nigeria, that trip inspiring your new album The Lagos Music Salon. Did you have any idea of what was going to happen after that or were you just going to Lagos for discovery?

Somi: I was definitely just going to discover. I had always been interested in seeing what it might be like to live and work on the African continent. How it might impact my lyrical and musical inspiration. It was really Uncle Hugh who gave me the courage and reminded me of the global citizenship of musicians. We shouldn't overthink something in terms of a move, and then we start thinking of the logistics, the production, the finances. He said you can go and just decide to spend time with a part of your audience and a part of the world and then always come right back if and when you feel ready. I decided to stop talking about it and just go. I had this soft landing through the extension of a former graduate advisor of mine at New York University, a professor there by the name of Awam Ampka, who is also Nigerian and has been in the US for a number of years, now tenured at Tisch. He was starting an international artist residency program and I took him up on the offer to go for a minimum of 7 weeks. I used that time to kind of explore the city, the country and my heart to see if it seemed like the right place for me to be at that time. I decided once I got there that I would stay through the end of the following year. I moved there in September 2011 and the plan was to stay until December 2012. Once I was there, I stayed for 18 months until 2013.

MR: So you were deeply affected by and loved your trip.

Somi: I did, I really fell in love with Lagos. I went there with no agenda and just to see how it would inspire me.

MR: Your album is made up of sound snippets and original material that was inspired by your trip to Lagos. How did the music and the lyrics come together? What was your creative process?

Somi: It was a really organic process and I really wanted it to be that. Because I had no agenda, I decided to, at the very least, just capture the sounds and the energy of the city the best I could. I had this pocket digital recorder that I would take out whether I was at the airport, in the streets, in the club or with my friends and just try to document and archive a 'sound diary' of sorts. I wasn't really clear about what music might come out of that. It started there and then I would journal quite a bit through my travels. I was really just reflecting on everyday experiences, whether they were tragic or magical. As a result, sometimes these reflections came out as songs with melodies and some of the chord structure. Other times they would just be ideas and then I went back later to try to develop it as a song. Coming to the concept of the salon really took me some time. I was there and probably 6 months in I started to have a little bit of a panic attack like "What did I just do? I left New York? Did I just throw my career in the toilet?" I wasn't sure why I was there anymore, but then suddenly I saw a thread through the songs that I had written up to that point and realized that it was really about creating this room of conversation and having a chance to become intimate with the city of Lagos. I wanted to share that and tell the truth because Lagos always tells you the truth. In this way it was a really organic process and somewhat ethnographic. Also I was fortunate to meet a handful of wonderful musicians, the producer Cobhams Asuquo, and also a person that collaborated quite a bit, Ré Olunuga, a Nigerian artist who I met early on so that was a great opportunity. They both taught me a great deal about the local energy, music, culture and tradition of the scene.

MR: You mentioned "Lagos" in terms of "the truth." Did you learn any new truths while you were there or maybe did some of the other truths you believed in previously, get shifted a bit?

Somi: Well, that is a fantastic question. I always say that Lagos is very much like New York in the sense that it is a hard city but if you show up for the city it has deeper rewards. It really can show up for you as well. If there is anything to take away, I learned about the privilege that I was given just by being born as an African women on U.S. soil and what that citizenship gives me. I found a deeper understanding of what it means for African artists who are born and raised on the continent with the limitations of resources, or visas, or immigration, then still manage to find themselves on the global, cultural stage. I think I just have a deeper respect for what it means to make it to that stage as an African artist. It was humbling in that way and allowed me not to take for granted some of the things that can easily be taken for granted when you are here in the West. But if anything, it taught me to always try to move outside my comfort zone. Maybe it was a reminder of that. We can all be reminded to challenge ourselves in new ways and explore other sides of ourselves and put ourselves in uncomfortable positions. For me, it allowed me to find a new way of telling stories and hopefully make the work stronger. I always want to take risks, be brave and be honest.

MR: With "Four African Women, " it's obvious you really did have to be there to understand not just intellectually but also emotionally, what was going on with these women.

Somi: Well, thank you for that. Interestingly enough there were two artists that I listened to while I was in Lagos. One of them being, Fela Kuti because its Fela and it gave me an understanding of his work; an understanding that Lagos is the only place that could actually create his sound. The other artist was Nina Simone. Something about her honesty, her raw beauty, her truth telling and her commitment to justice. All of these issues really seemed to mirror the honesty of Lagos and I wanted to celebrate her and pay her homage while also including some of my reflections of the plights of African women. This is not specifically about Nigeria, but it is a song about some of the issues women across the continent survive. I wanted to honor her in this way and it makes me really happy that you found some truth in that piece.

MR: Somi, "Two Dollar Day" reflects on a domestic worker you met during the Occupy Nigeria protests. Can you talk about that song and its creation? And how did you relate to the worker who was going through her ordeal?

Somi: I would watch it on the streets, seeing people protest, and when you have the opportunity to actually meet someone who is living the repercussions of changes it humanizes the story. I really just wanted to tell her story and to help relay the fact that there is humanity in those choices and that there is dignity in the people who live through that as well; dignity in those that are living on two dollars a day in a country that is still very wealthy but unfortunately these resources are not shared. It was about acknowledging the dignity of that woman and celebrating the people that took to the streets to recognize the power they hold and their impact. People often talk about Nigeria as a sleeping giant, and when you see it awaken in the streets in such a dynamic and popular way, it is very moving.

MR: How do you not get swept into the passion of it all, wanting to commit yourself on a full time basis to issues you become involved in?

Somi: I think as artists, we are committed. At least I would like to believe that I have committed in a full time way and every time I get on stage I'm telling the story. I always tell the story that led to that story. I try to participate in whatever way I can. The stage and the microphone are powerful things, so I am always honored to have the opportunity to bring light to these issues.

MR: In addition to the salon environments you were creating, you also were performing in Europe during this time. So you basically were bringing your experiences out to the world through your performances, educating and spreading the word on Lagos even before the release of the album,.

Somi: I really hope so. I was also playing in salons in Lagos because I really wanted to make sure the people of Nigeria were endorsing it. I am an East African woman and my family is originally from Rwanda and Uganda. There is always that idea of "are you really of this place? Can you really take ownership of this story and tell our story to the world without being exploitative or having a foreign lens?" That is what was so important about spending so much time there. Those salons in Lagos really allowed me to get a response from the Lagosian and gave me the confidence to go out into the world and share the stories. Hopefully the Nigerian audience is happy.

MR: Was this an eternal link that you have established with Lagos?

Somi: I would say so. I haven't been to Lagos in several months but I miss it dearly. I am reminded of it every time I share this music. I'm hoping to be back within the next four months. It's definitely one of my proudest moments in my journey to have just taken that time and taken that risk and to be given the gift that Lagos and the Nigerian people gave me.

MR: It seems the more people that talk about segmented issues occurring on the African continent, the more America and the rest of the world can be educated in Africa. I think we look at it as one giant land mass. We don't really understand the cultural divisions, histories, and each country's issues as well as we should.

Somi: Absolutely. I think right now it's such an exciting time on the continent. The African voice is beginning to be heard in a different way and we are all beginning to appreciate those nuances. There is so much work that we need to do on the Western side of things in terms of understanding the subtleties, large and small, but it is also such an exciting time because for the first time, you are seeing more and more African artists actually participate on the global cultural stage and really tell their stories in an honest, authentic and exciting way. I am happy to contribute in whatever small way I can to really help people understand more about what the African experience is today.

MR: Somi, what advice do you have for new artists?

Somi: I would say probably that same that Uncle Hugh said. We should try to understand that we are global citizens. We should try to be of the world and tell stories of the world, for the world. Just be honest with our hearts and with those around us.

MR: After Lagos and visiting Europe, is there or any other location you'd like to visit for a project?

Somi: Absolutely! I definitely want to go to my homeland, East Africa. I have all sorts of things that I would like to share, think about and research in Uganda and Rwanda. One of the projects that I am working on in Europe is with Ibrahim Maalouf, a Lebanese trumpet player in Paris. We have been exploring the conversation between African and Arab jazz traditions and the role of women in the movements of the Arab spring. I am really interested in spending time in that part of the world and North Africa. The thing is, as an artist I'm in Los Angeles right now but there is always something that you can take away from a place. I definitely have my hotspots and things I am thinking about. We will see what happens.

MR: What was the culture shock like coming back to New York after 18 months in Lagos?

Somi: I think there a few different things. As difficult as it can be, it can also be idyllic. It can have tropical beauty and paradise and also a different appreciation. In other cities outside of the West, I feel that people have different sense of appreciation for balance. Its not just moving in the same way New York is. In African cities, I have more time to do the work while also having the time to enjoy living. It could've been the creative process that allowed me to be so still but I guess the biggest culture shock was not being so still.

Tour Dates
March 7 - The Painted Bride - Philadelphia, PA
March 8 - The Velvet Note - Atlanta, GA
March 9 - Blues Alley - Washington, DC
March 11 - Regatta Bar - Boston, MA
April 24 - Roulette - Brooklyn, NY

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MISHKA SHUBALY'S "YOUR PLUS ONE AT MY FUNERAL"


photo courtesy Mishka Shubaly

According to Mishka Shubaly...

"Do I ever get depressed? Hoo boy, you bet I do. One reliable pick-me-up when I'm down is to imagine myself dead, snuggled into my cozy little coffin like a wooden sleeping bag, with lots of hot girls crying over me. With 'Your Plus One At My Funeral,' I manage to deflate even this sad, narcissistic little balloon by obsessing over an ex from beyond the grave, wondering who she'll bring as her date to my funeral. Only years after writing this song did I realize that it holds the epiphany that finally made me stop drinking--I had become more afraid of my life than I was of my death."

website: http://www.mishkashubaly.com

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A Conversation with Nir Felder

Mike Ragogna: Let's talk about all things Golden Age, where historic speeches actually played a part in its creative process. Was the concept of Golden Age planned out or was it something that happened as it evolved?

Nir Felder: I didn't really plan out the album from front to back as I was writing the music. But it was like, those themes are something that we're dealing with in such a major way in this sort of political climate kind of musical climate, for basically the whole time I've been a professional musician. So this was stuff that's with me and not something that just ended with the record. The narrative goes through basically my whole adult life. I started playing music as a teenager, and said this is what I want to do, it was when Napster came out--same exact time. The changes in the music industry, the changes in the U.S., the changes in New York City have been so profound over the course of my adult life and it was just what I was tuned in to. The Golden Age title is kind of more of a question than it is a statement. I've said that many times in interviews, but the record was written during a time that I was feeling very hopeful and now maybe things have panned out the way we could have hoped, or better, and other things have panned out not at all that way. It's just food for thought.

MR: How would one pull off a "Golden Age" in the hostile political environment we've got now?

NF: Well, the whole point was that the golden age was something that was never actually there. You never think to yourself that you're living in in a golden age, it's just something that's always in the distant past or the distant future. You have this kind of wheel that is spinning around and you're always neither here nor there. That campaign was about pointing towards the future and him saying that it's coming, come with me and I'll take you there. There's a certain naivety of buying into that but at the same time it is so human to want that to be the case. Every culture has that concept of a golden age, it's just something innate in us that we do have this kind of optimism or in contrast, if we see it in the past it's pessimism. But we all have this belief in something like that really being possible. It's amazing and part of the human condition. Some of the stuff on the record, like the Mario Cuomo speech, who passed away this year, dealt with the rising inequality. That's still a major issue that's not being resolved and is looking like it's getting worse. The fact that we address it and we talk about it and we think about it is a start. It's better than nothing.

MR: It seems like everyone would want a golden age and all that implies, but do you ever really reach a golden age?

NF: No, you never do, but you try. Something about it in the music itself and what I chose to put in the final product dealt with ambiguity. I never released a transcript of what the voices were saying, and I purposefully had them at some points muffled. I want people to be able to interpret it however they see fit. It was amazing to see all the different theories that came back, like he's saying this or he's saying that. It's purposefully ambiguous. I feel like no one's caught it all yet. I guess I'm glad.

MR: You recorded this project with Aaron Parks, Matt Penman and Nate Smith. What did they bring creatively?

NF: Those guys are so brilliant in that they are these amazing improvisers but they also have this sense of the song being the most important thing at all times. We were a working band at the time and what I treasure about those guys is that you don't have to explain to them what something's about, they get it. They get that it's a song and not just a bunch of chords on a page, or a bunch of melodies. That it is something much bigger than that. They really played that and put the music first which is cool.

MR: You started out loving the blues, your original heroes being Albert King and Stevie Ray Vaughan. Then that changed, evolved, into, I guess, a golden age for you, when you crossed into jazz. Was there a big, "Aha!" when you discovered jazz?

NF: It was a gradual, "Aha." There are always those moments and that's what we always look forward to finding when a door opens or a light bulb goes off. But usually, it's more gradual. It's just a gradual awakening to the possibilities and figuring out who you are. You get a little more clarity into yourself, which is the amazing thing. Music is a great feature

MR: You won the Berklee Guitar Department's Jimi Hendrix Award and also you won a Billboard Scholarship for Musicianship and Academic Performance. How did you react to these achievements and did they affect your life creatively or personally?

NF: I couldn't really take it too seriously, because like I said, music is this great feature and it's very humbling to know. People can commend you and people can say you did well and that feels good obviously to see your hard work recognized. But we all know what we're up against. We all know that music is endless. We all know that for everything you can do, there's so many things you can't do and really all we can attempt to do is tell our stories honestly and do our best to communicate the things we know that only we can share with people. Our own really unique personal stories. It was nice to be recognized and it always is, but it is really--is this music moving people, is this touching people, am I sharing something that's special? So it never stops. You're never like, oh okay, I made it, I'm done. It's always going.

MR: How does the creative process work for you? Do you get together with the other musicians and then create from there? Are you on your own in a room? How does the music get out of you?

NF: It's a combination of it all. I've tried all the different approaches that I can think of to create. Sometimes I write a lot on my guitar, often alone, and then I bring it to the guys and we revamp it. Sometimes I'll sketch it all out on the computer with different elements. Maybe I'll make the drumbeat first. It all depends. But I really do enjoy writing from the guitar, because I came up in the era of guitar. Big guitars and that rock n roll guitar sound of open strings and open chords. I felt like some of that was lost in jazz guitar because guitar players were trying to be horn players or piano players, which was great. I wanted to remember what it was like to still really be a guitar player but still play this improvised music that we love called jazz.

MR: That thing we love called jazz, what kind of state do you think it's in right now?

NF: It's in a state of evolution that's kind of like everything around us. It has a lot to do with the recording industry and the changes within the recording industry. If you look around, people are like maybe this will work or what happens if I do this. So it is a creative time, it's a time of experimentation, but some people are still sticking to tried and true formulas as a reaction to the uncertainty. There's a mix of both, of avant-garde pushing forward and the reactionary clinging of the status quo and everything in between. I like to explore the grey areas. But I am also interested in what's coming next. I think there is a lot of great, exciting music to be made.

MR: Is there anything out there musically where you're so blown away it affects your own creativity? Do you have those kinds of experiences?

NF: Sure, I'm always looking forward to those experiences, so I'm always trying to find that thing that lights something up and inspires me. Sometimes it's not through music and it's through travel or something. But musically, I really enjoyed the latest Ryan Adams record. I thought that was just such a great example of a true record, when there are so few true records these days. Things are so marketed towards singles and I felt like he really made a statement with that and it was something that he did himself, in his own studio and self-produced. It sounded amazing. The care they put into that record was really amazing. He didn't win a Grammy but he was nominated for many, which was a coup in and of itself. I thought that was really cool that he followed his vision and it paid off and he made a great record. I also like Father John Misty's newest album and the one before. I think he's pretty brilliant and very funny too. Doing cool things with production and really caring about it. You can really tell those guys really really care. That's always good to see.

MR: Where do you see you going from here? What's the game plan?

NF: Well, we're improvising, right? So we don't totally know, but I'm working on the next record, which is a continuation of a lot of these themes. It's not going to be a huge departure from Golden Age because we have so much more material to mine there. Just bringing it forward with the guitar and jazz and this kind of music that's inspired by songs and hopefully speaks to people. So I'm continuing in that direction.

MR: What advice do you have for new artists...emerging artists?

NF: For emerging artists, the best advice I can really think of is to just really believe in yourself. I could list all the terrible advice that I got over the years that I didn't follow and that I'm really glad I didn't, because its hard to teach someone not to follow advice. The best we can do as teachers, is to say this is what the mainstream is or this is the general practice. You want to give students information, but I think the most important thing any student can take away from that is, okay, let me explore this information and let me take what I like from it--I'm talking about in music and in the arts in general - and leave the rest and follow my own path. Every one of these emerging artists and ever individual that approaches music has some thing special to say. That can get lost if you are trying to say what someone else has already said. You have to sing your own song. That's the only way to do it. You know that all the artists you love are influenced by other artists but they found a way to say their own thing in their own way. That's the goal. To do that you have to take what you like and leave the rest. So my advice is to not always follow people's advice and believe in yourself.

MR: Just curious, do you find that using those heavy gauged stings on your particular guitar affects your creativity as opposed to maybe using other kinds of guitars?

NF: Yeah, because I know that there are not a lot of other people that play that way. I have this old Mexican Stratocaster that I got when I was 13 with really heavy strings on it and I'm playing jazz indie rock hybrid on it. I know there's not really anyone else doing that but it's not because there's no one else doing it that I did it. I just kind of happened. When someone told me I needed to get a new guitar I said, no I like this one and I'll keep these strings on it because I like those. I like the way those sound. I love Stevie Ray Vaughan and he did that, but I don't want to play that style of music necessarily. I just loved that sound. When I think about it, I realize it's something unique so let me keep going with it and follow all my whims. Sometimes something good comes out of it and sometimes I have to say, maybe I'll just do this one by the book. It's a mix of respecting history and learning from the tradition of the music but also willing to say, oh screw it.

Tour Dates:
March 7 - Dazzle Jazz - Denver, CO
March 8 - Studio 222 - Fargo, ND
March 9 - Des Moines Social Club - Des Moines, IA
March 10 - Evanston SPACE - Chicago, IL
March 11 - Blue Whale - Los Angeles, CA
March 12 - Kuumbwa Jazz Center - Santa Cruz, CA
March 15 - Brick and Mortar - San Francisco, CA
March 16 - Jazz Alley - Seattle, WA

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ISABEL ROSE'S "NEVER SATISFIED"


photo courtesy Isabel Rose

According to Isabel Rose...

"Thanks to the late great, Joan Rivers--who probably rolled over in her couture casket when she was snubbed by the Academy Award's this year--red carpet shows have become cultural events in and of themselves, like the Macy's Day parade or the Super Bowl half-time show. Judging from the copious twitter strings that allow the public to weigh in now, too, many people care more about watching the red carpet than they do about the actual ceremony that follows. As a reflection of American values, it seems that spectacle, taste and branding are eclipsing the creative accomplishments that got them there.

"Every artist who walks a red carpet today has to make a decision about what that moment will be used for: self-expression, self-exposure, political statement, branding, re-branding or all-of-the-above. Every artist who walks the red carpet today has to decide whom to please: their management, their studio, their stylist, their fans, their fans parents, their children, or--gasp--themselves.

"I decided to use my latest video, 'Never Satisfied,' as an opportunity to explore these themes of sartorial criticism vs. self-expression while simultaneously paying homage to those iconoclasts whose individuality has stamped an indelible impression in our collective consciousness. It was also exciting to take a song I recorded about a relationship and turn it into something with less victimization attached. It was empowering and liberating, and dare I say it, as much fun as running through a field of daisies buck naked with a glass of Chardonnay."

website: https://www.facebook.com/IsabelRoseMusic

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A Conversation with Cyrille Aimée

Mike Ragogna: Cyrille, of course, I have to ask you...is it a good day?

Cyrille Aimée: Yes, it is a fast and urgent day! (laughs)

MR: Terrific! Okay, on It's A Good Day, you visit standards as well as originals. How did this project come together?

CA: For this album, I really wanted to create a sound that was mine and mine alone. I tried to dig into who I was and what I wanted to share musically--growing up with gypsies and then coming to America to learn the American Songbook and then going to Brazil to do some records with Diego [Figueiredo]. I realized that there are a lot of things that are in me and so I kind of decided to put it all together into one sound using the guitar as the common thread throughout the album. I had a Latin guitar, a gypsy guitar, a jazz guitar, and it created an original sound because these 3 types of guitars were not meant to be together. For the songs, I like a lot of different kinds of music. I don't like categories in particular. From Michael Jackson to Peggy Lee, I like it all. I just think of songs that make me feel good, remind me of something or that I like the lyrics to.

MR: Duke Ellington's "Caravan" is one of the first songs you ever learned, right?

CA: Yes, I learned that with the gypsies.

MR: How did it feel coming back to the piece? How has it evolved within you over the years?

CA: Now I understand it more. First of all, when I learned it, I learned it phonetically. And I didn't speak English as well as I speak it now. So, I guess it is the same with all of the songs from the American Songbook. At first I fell in love with them for their melody and their harmony. I came to America to study harmony and rhythm and improvisations and got deeper and deeper into the lyrics and what the songs actually meant. Now the lyrics are one of the most important things to me.

MR: Would you say with Michael Jackson's "Off The Wall," you are relating to those lyrics as well?

CA: Yes! I love the lyrics. It's exactly as I see life, to not just follow everything, but follow your instinct and live off the wall.

MR: With the approach you took with this album arrangement-wise, it were as if there were "voices" employed by the various guitar instruments, like you were performing duets with virtual vocal artists using these instruments.

CA: Yes! But it's not really "duets," as there are more than two of us and more than two guitars but the guitar is definitely a voice to me. I love the guitar for so many reasons. First of all because I grew up around the gypsies and that is the instrument that they play and they use the guitar not just for its common role, but as a percussive instrument, because the drum set didn't fit in the caravan (laughs). So they had to use a different instrument to make the percussive sound. I love the guitar because you can bring it everywhere and you can start a jam wherever you are.

MR: What is your musical evolution?

CA: Many different ways. My first memories of music are of my mother playing Dominican music in the house because my parents love to dance. They love to throw parties and dance, so there was a lot Latin music in the house. My father loved listening to classical music, but when I met the gypsies, that's when I knew I wanted to make music as well. And then from the gypsies I discovered Ella Fitzgerald and then that got me into the American songbook. From there I got really into all the instrumentalists like Miles Davis, piano trios, and then I got into the Brazilian stuff because I met Diego. It's still going on and I keep growing as a musician.

MR: With Diego, what are the dynamics when you guys are playing together?

CA: It really is incredible. The first time we met in 2007, I was the winner of the voice competition in Montclair and he was the winner of the guitar competition and a year later he contacted me via MySpace and asked me to come to Brazil to play some gigs. We had never played together, but I really wanted to go to Brazil, so I went and it was an instant connection. We realized there was something really strong in the music we played together and we could share many things because I have my French side that I brought into the duet and his Brazilian side that he brought, and we have the American songbook in common that we both really loved. It's really special.

MR: You're not easy to put into a genre because although you perform jazz, you have other influences. How would you define yourself as the artist you are now?

CA: I really don't think too much about that. I just want to be happy. My main goal in life is to be happy. If I can make other people happy by doing what I love, then I feel like I've done everything in life that I've wanted. I just want to make people feel good and change people's lives with music and that's it.

MR: You were spotted by Stephen Sondheim and were in one of his productions. How did that come together, what is that story?

CA: It's really different from what I used to do. It was a challenge and I love challenges. I learned a lot from it and I actually started taking acting lessons from that day on.

MR: How did he discover you?

CA: They contacted Lincoln Center looking for a jazz singer and that's how they found me.

MR: Cyrille, what advice do you have for new artists?

CA: Keep following your dreams. Live "off the wall" (laughs) and as long as what you are doing is what you want to do, then it should work...if you are honest.

MR: Ideally, what would you want to do next?

CA: I want to do a lot of things--I want to act, I want to sing, and I want to meet new people!

Tour Dates:
February 28 - Portland Jazz Festival - Portland, OR
March 5 - BLU Jazz - Akron, OH
March 6 - Dirty Dog Jazz Cafe - Grosse Pointe Farms, MI
March 18 - Alvemia University - Reading, PA
March 26 - Bedford Hall - Kenosha, WI
March 27 - Lakewood Cultural Center - Lakewood, CO
April 10 - Stamford Center for the Arts - Stamford, CT

Forget about color, America. Instead, let us all come together and see "The Dress" -- as it is now forever known -- as being half full. So you call me a cockeyed optimist -- or just a poorly dressed idiot -- but here is my colorful playlist for "The Dress" everyone is talking about and seeing.

FREEKUM DRESS - Beyonce

DEVIL IN A NEW DRESS - Kanye West

IF YOU WEAR THAT VELVET DRESS - U2

DRESS BLUES - Jason Isbell

A MAN IN A PURPLE DRESS - The Who

DEVIL WITH A BLUE DRESS - Mitch Ryder & The Detroit Wheels

RED DRESS - TV on the Radio

DRESS YOU UP - Madonna

LITTLE BLACK DRESS - Sara Bareilles

BEDOUIN DRESS - Fleet Foxes

NEW DRESS - Depeche Mode

RED DRESS - Lucy Hale & Joe Nichols

LONG TALL WOMAN (IN A BLACK DRESS) - The Hollies


As always add your own dressy songs below.

Last week I attended Teatro Zinzanni's new show The Hot Spot, and I was - as always - delightfully entertained. I've always considered Seattle's Teatro ZinZanni a unique treasure that seems like a Disneyland for adults, and the new show is no exception.

Key among the character players was Frank Ferranti in his classic role as Chef Caesar (a.k.a. The Caesar), a character he has portrayed there since 2001. The first time I saw Ferranti in that role at least a decade ago, I couldn't help but notice an uncanny resemblance between what he was doing and the way Groucho Marx used to toy with contestants on You Bet Your Life. Only later did I learn that Ferranti is, in fact, a huge Groucho fan who performs a one-man Groucho show at venues around the world - including Seattle's ACT Theatre for the past three summers.

Since that first realization, I've seen his Groucho show, An Evening With Groucho, several times and his Teatro ZinZanni Caesar performance a few times as well, and with each performance I can't help but think he's doing much more than acting. Ferranti seems to be channeling the spirit of Groucho (or perhaps Sid Caesar). And the same is true of many of the cast members who are continually interacting with individuals in the audience in a way that makes even the people sitting in the farthest reaches of the spiegeltent feel like they could be the next "victim."

In truth, there is no place to hide in the intimate circular tent filled with only 300 people. Still, people sitting on the outside edges may think that they can avoid contact with the cast of zany characters until one of the cast starts climbing over the patrons at a particular table, as was true of the table next to ours.

And when the show was over, I couldn't help but feel a certain urge to "run away with the circus." In speaking with friends, I was surprised that my reaction was not uncommon. There is something in most adults that sees this highly skilled form of play as appealing.

Still, I doubt that I could ever come close to Frank Ferranti in his amazing nightly recreation of witty banter with whichever audience member becomes his next victim. May everyone have at least one opportunity to be "victimized" with such humor, kindness and style.

If art has the freedom to display human foibles in the extreme, the "ick" factor of Jennifer Haley's play The Nether, the MCC production that opened this week at the Lucille Lortel theater is through the roof. On first view, the stage is a somber gray, an interrogation room where an investigator named Morris (Merritt Wever) pushes middle aged men to near tears questioning their online languishing in a virtual paradise called The Hideaway. By the time doors open onto sunlit verdant gardens, and the baby pink of a child's bedroom in this quick 80 minute tour de force, the suggestion of edenic innocence is as welcome to the audience as this splendid, if non-existent place is to Mr. Sims (Frank Wood) and Mr. Doyle (Peter Friedman). Morris demands to know the server, information that the men are loathe to deliver, lest they never see "Iris" again.

Iris? Iris (Sophia Anne Caruso) is a 9-year old seductress in The Hideaway, cleverly costumed (by Jessica Pabst) in pinafore and knee highs with cascading blond curls like the classic illustrations for Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. The association with this famous pedophile is apt, as we see Iris begin to work her charms on a new guest, Mr. Woodnut (Ben Rosenfield), who, like us, doesn't quite know what he's gotten himself into.

But this play pushes fantasy to another level, cleverly imagining the alternate places where our web fascination can lead. Of course, the more remote The Hideaway seems in possibilities, the closer its images of a lost bliss really are. This is a terrific play, impeccably acted under Anne Kauffman's fine direction, especially by the young girl. I took my daughter to see it, and, rather than being repulsed at the violence suggested to innocence, we are still debating the issues of desire and heartbreaking love, happy to keep this vision of human potential as technology advances at the safe remove of The Nether's brilliant talk.

A version of this post also appears on Gossip Central.

"Isn't this cool?" I said to him, holding up the t-shirt. It had come as part of singer/songwriter Martin Sexton's pre-order bundle for his new CD, Mixtape Of The Open Road. A list of tour dates skated down the backside. On the front was a cassette tape rendered in retro-distressed style. He stared at it for a couple of seconds and made a snuffling sound.

"What?"

"That doesn't make you feel old?"

"Concert tees never go out of style, baby!"

"No," he said, nodding to the front. "Tapes. Mixtapes. A certain generation has no clue what those things are."

I considered this and first thought I refuse to allow the term "certain generation" in this house. THAT makes me feel old. But, then I realized he was right. The mixtape is a rarefied artifact, and I miss it mightily.

Once upon a time, the mixtape was the audio valentine of choice. It was the preferred method of telling a guy or girl you wanted to hold their sweaty palm in yours and pretend to watch a movie. The quickest and most devastating litmus test of relationship material is the conversation you have about music. I subscribe whole heartedly to that great line spoken by John Cusack's character in High Fidelity: "What really matters is what you like, not what you are like. Books, records, films -- these things matter. Call me shallow, but it's the fuckin' truth."

In days of yore (aka the '70s), it was relatively easy to suss out a person's musical interests. Vinyl was impossible to escape. If a record collection wasn't arrogantly displayed like the rhino heads and cheetah pelts of big game hunters, that meant: A. The person had something nasty and shameful to hide, like The Best of Bread or Tito Puente Does Motown, or B. Music was not part of their social vernacular. In both cases, your chances of getting laid plummeted. I've never had a date, let alone a relationship, last where his musical tastes did not surpass, compliment, or challenge my own. I remember sitting across from the table on a date with a perfectly nice boy human who told me that music was not really something he "noticed." Check please. That's why the mixtape is such high stakes territory; it's a lyrical Cyrano de Bergerac saying something important to someone that you're too shy or repressed or straight up chicken-shit to say yourself.

Because you're offering up more than what speaks to you musically, you're carving out a piece of your soul and giving it to this person. I know that sounds uber-dramatic, but so isn't adolescence. It's a trail of aural breadcrumbs you're leaving for the person to follow. Will they pick up what you're throwing down and decode your secret message, the one that says I love you or please don't break my heart or are you the one who finally gets me? Will they hear you saying: "I want to show you my brain," or "Can we please get super funky naked together? Like, a lot? Like, as much as humanly possible?" Sidenote: That's the Al Green, Marvin Gaye, Prince mixtape. Potent. You get one of those and manage to keep your panties from dropping, then you belong in a museum next to the statue of Michelangelo's David.

As soon as I knew I liked a boy, I would start mentally building the mixtape. For better or for worse -- usually for worse, in my case, a prematurely-given mixtape is the same as texting someone sitting in front of you who has just given you their digits; it's very bad form -- that kid knew who he was agreeing to sit with on the school bus. The mixtape is as vulnerable as it gets, and that includes the angry, bitter mixtape of tunes that seem to be the only things to adequately convey your roiling angst and searing pain over the one who has done you wrong. I am sure I have a shoebox molding in the back of a closet somewhere with a mixtape or two given to me by boys who ultimately stomped my heart into the dirt. I know if I found them, I would turn the plastic cases over in my hands, study the fading ink of handwriting, suddenly familiar, but also foreign, and without even putting it in a player (a device that no longer exists) would be able to hear each tune and feel the way I did the first time I listened.

I know we don't listen, make, consume or share music today the same way we did even ten years ago. I see the potential in a lot of innovation sweeping across the art space, from books and music to film and graphic design and video games. But there's a part of me that feels the pull to preserve ritual and rite of passage. The shared playlist (the one that could go on in perpetuity. How many Bare Naked Ladies songs can you stand?), the "I burned this for you," just don't hold the same gravitas. They just don't.

I popped Martin Sexton's disc onto the digital turntable spinning inside my laptop and settled in to listen and marvel a little bit over a "certain generation" who will never know what it is to bare your soul in the magnetic spools of a mixtape.

Spock was my favorite. As a church kid, he gave me permission to be skeptical. As a shy kid, he taught me that being aloof was a special power. I have no idea how logical Mr. Nimoy was, but when he put on the blue shirt, he glued me to my seat to see what ethical dilemma Spock was going to solve with one eyebrow tied behind his back.

When an elective came up in high school called "Ethics and Logic," I had no idea what the class was about, but I signed up for it, just for that word, "Logic." That's where I learned about Kierkegaard.

"That is the exploration that awaits you! Not mapping stars and studying nebula, but charting the unknown possibilities of existence."

-Leonard Nimoy

I know I typically write about music, but having been an entertainment writer for decades, I have had many occasions and the privilege to write about other forms of entertainment, especially when I was living in Las Vegas and working for The Las Vegas Sun and The Associated Press.

The news of Leonard Nimoy's death hit me, as I am sure it did all of his fans, hard. A life without Nimoy is a little duller. It also reminded me of a column I wrote for The Sun in 1998 when the Las Vegas Hilton opened "Star Trek: The Experience." The themed attraction is sadly no longer open (it closed after a decade of entertaining Trekkies in 2008). And the Hilton, where Elvis Presley performed hundreds of shows and the phrase "Elvis has left the building" was coined, is now the Westgate Las Vegas hotel-casino.

But Trekkies and Spock fans like me who had the chance to take in "Star Trek: The Experience" will never forget it. And in case you're wondering after you read my original column below, I did get to take my Dad.

Here's a post I wrote about the experience: "Star Trek Experience a 'Dream Come True."

Monday, Jan. 5, 1998

I stood in the transporter room of the USS Enterprise; I walked along one of the ship's corridors; I took a ride on one of her shuttle craft; and I found myself on the bridge, racing through the stars at warp speed.

It was a dream come true.

If my adult mind had convinced me that Star Trek was only a television show and some movies, the museum -- which allows a review of the entire historical time line for the future that Star Trek has created -- turned fantasy into reality.

Welcome to Star Trek: The Experience.

Wandering through the exhibits and listening to the sound bytes of familiar TV show and film clips, I was transported back in time by one of my first vivid memories -- watching, with my dad, Capt. Kirk, Mr. Spock and Dr. McCoy take on the mutant alien of the week.

More importantly, I remember it was during these shows that for the first time my dad really talked to me. Not like a parent speaks to a child, but as an equal.

With Star Trek acting as our medium, I learned a lot from that quality time spent with dad.

I learned that you never, ever want to be a red shirt (unless you are Scotty) because you most certainly will met an untimely end. I learned that because the Enterprise was traveling at light speed, its five-year mission was much longer in Earth years. Therefore, when the crew finally returned home, everyone they knew on Earth would be long dead. (I thought this was really sad.) I learned that English truly is the universal language. I learned that unlike in life, good always prevails.

During my formative years I watched Star Trek, the original series, and dreamed of working on the Enterprise when I grew up. I had my first crush on Capt. Kirk, and my second on Mr. Spock. I struggled with how my family and friends would accept my dating an alien and a Vulcan at that. Which brings me to another life-lesson learned from the crew of the Enterprise: that no matter what color your scales are or what planet you are from, all life forms should be treated with respect.

There also was something noble and selfless about the crew members who had given up everything (mainly Earth) to fly around the universe in search of intelligent life and Klingons in order to help mankind. They did, however, have the advantage of using replicators for food preparation with no dirty dishes to wash afterwards.

The entity that has evolved as Star Trek -- four shows and eight movies later -- started in 1966, before the Me Generation and while "Ask not what your country can do for you ..." was still echoing in our minds.

The foremost question on my mind (besides what's for dinner) was where do I sign up? Imagine my disappointment when I was informed I could not attend Star Fleet Academy and that the Enterprise was merely a sound stage. I don't think I ever fully recovered from the devastation.

Until today.

While most 20th century adventures can't and don't live up to their hype, the city's latest attraction now open at the Las Vegas Hilton does.

And after a visit to the 24th century, I can't wait to take my dad.

Harlem rapper, A$AP Ferg recently released his "Dope Walk" video, from his Gangsta Grillz mixtape Ferg Forever. In the video shot by Ferg and Matt Starr on an iPhone, Ferg takes model/socialite Cara Delevinge on digital ride via Face Time and gives both Cara and his audience insider access during New York Fashion Week.

Warning: NSFW



From sitting front row at shows by Pyer Moss, Adam Selman and Adidas x Kanye to cameos from celebrities such as Rihanna, Big Sean, Beyoncé, and Justin Bieber. So, of course, I decided to chat with Ferg on creativity, fashion, and hear more on what 'Dope Walk' is all about. Now you can be the judge if his walk is "meaner than Cara Delevingne's."

1. Now that "Dope Walk" is out... how do you feel it has been received by the public? Is this what you hoped for?

I knew that people would have more fun with the song once they saw the visual and how the dance went in the video. A lot of people are just having fun doing the dope walk or just enjoying seeing other people doing the dance and that's all I hoped for. I wanted to bring back the essence of song and dance and highlight a brighter energy of hip hop. The video exceeded my expectations of just being a trendy dance in Harlem and I feel it really went global.

2. Can you walk me through the creative process of conceptualizing and filming the video. I love the idea of inviting your audience to be with you every step of the way.

I came up with the idea of shooting the video on my phone to make the video feel more personal with artist Matt Starr and founder of The 88, Harry Bernstein. We wanted to shoot an innovational video and push the limit a bit with creativity.

3. Artists from Beyonce to OG Maco have taken the guerilla style, DIY approach to creating their videos. It strips down the pretentious layers associated with being a "celebrity" and makes you very relatable. Do you see this as a new trend?

I don't feel like it makes you less of a celebrity but I do feel like making yourself more relatable is the new celebrity. With the new computer age I think fans get a kick out of knowing that their favorite celebs have the same habits they have.

4. You shared your "private" face-time session with your "virtual friend" Cara with the world. How does this speak to the kids of the digital age and the times of today? Do you think privacy is obsolete?

Privacy is what you make of it. I think that privacy is between you and the person; it doesn't have to deal with computers or phones.

5. When watching the video, everything about it was effortless and fun. Which to me is very you. Can you speak on what part or parts of your character allows you to bridge the gap between music and fashion in this way?

I'm an artist by nature who loves to use many different mediums to express myself including music, dance, fashion and film. I come from an art background and these things come natural to me.

6. Speaking on the bridge between music and fashion, I went to the Dipset performance at BB Kings the other night. It was definitely a walk down memory lane. It evoked the same feeling as the "Dope Walk" Video. I remember a collection you did for the Young & Reckless and you said the purple camo bulletproof vest was inspired by Dipset's street team, Purple City Bird Gang. How has Dipset been of influence to you? And how do you feel about their reunion project?

The reunion project is cool but I love the old Dipset before the break up. When Killah [Cam'ron] was doing the all pink range and Jim was "one eye willie" I used to see them in Harlem all day everyday. I want to provide that feeling to my generation of that "real" accessible celebrity.

7. In terms of your creative vision and progress what can we expect from you in 2015, and how do you plan on bringing your ideas to life?

Expect me to bring it back home to Harlem.

8. Lastly, talk to me about the tribal face paint you rocked during NYFW. What influenced that? What were people's reactions?

I did the tribal face art because I thought it would compliment my outfit and people loved it.

For more information on A$ap Ferg head to www.asapferg.com.

Dear Oscars,

It's not you. It's me.

*meaningful pause*

OK, it's actually you, and by "you," I mean "me." I'm in a different place in my life right now, a place covered in Cheerios and scattered tiny little Lego pieces that dig into the soles of your feet. A place where if you want to get the attention of others, you simply withdraw to the washroom and wait. I have two boys (ages 2 and 5) and a full-time job. Evenings are for all-you-can-cook-and-chore while weekends are for all-you-can-STOP AND DON'T!!! Quite frankly, when all is said and done, I have neither the joie nor the vivre left in me required to enjoy your company. We've simply drifted apart and I think you know where I'm going with this, Oscars. You have to go.

Just as soon as I've hate-watched the Red Carpet.

Okay, go. STAY. GO. STAY. GO STAY. I mean it.

I know that after so many years together it may come to you as a shock, but believe me, I have my reasons:

1. Rubbing Clean People Who Have Time to Clean up in My Face
Gee, thanks so much for taunting me and showering me (no pun intended) with an endless parade of freshly-cleaned, coiffed and manicured individuals of both genders, none of whom is wearing stickers. And don't think I didn't notice the whimsical gowns and hairdos. We survivalists don't do whimsical.



2. A Reminder of Your Place in Society in the Form of a List of Movies None of Which You Have Watched Nor Heard of
You think you're so much better than me, don't you, knowing exactly who, she, it, what (?) is Birdman? Oh, look at you, so cool and non-obsolete, but guess what, buddy... OK, I've got nothing.

3. 11:30 p.m. - Really? Is that still a thing? I'm sorry, but I'm not taking on any new sleep-deprivers at the moment. I'm at full capacity.

4. Red Carpets Are a No-No
You call it Red Carpet, I call it Ketchup Stains. Tomatoes Tom-uh-toes. Red comes in chalk, juice, jams and crayons. Red be bad. We no likey.

5. "Who Are You Wearing?" Brings (Lower and Upper) Back Pain
What, this little number? Oh, this is Daniel. He is a baby and he lives in this Baby Bjorn. OK, that's not entirely true, he's 2 now and has relocated, but my back still remembers this as if it was yesterday.



So peace out, friend. I'll catch up with you in a couple of years.

This post appeared on Katia's blog, www.iamthemilk.wordpress.com. You can find Katia on Twitter @KatiaDBE and on Facebook.

Ever since television was first revealed to the general American public in 1928, generation after generation has been captivated by the incredible entertainment medium. As time moves on, what is playing at the movie theaters and on TV continues to reach greater heights of entertainment. Action movies continue to become more intense with advancing special affects; Tonight shows continue to grow in humor and cleverness; and TV shows continue to increase in number. But as time moves on, an ode must be paid to some of the most popular TV shows in history. Below are the top ten most watched TV Finales to date.

1.) M*A*S*H



Viewers In Millions: 105.9

Percent of Households watching: 60.2%

Date Aired: February 28, 1983

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2.) Cheers



Viewers In Millions: 84.4

Percent of Households watching: 45.5%

Date Aired: May 20, 1993

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3.) The Fugitive



Viewers In Millions: 78.0

Percent of Households watching: 45.9%

Date Aired: August 29, 1967

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4.) Seinfeld



Viewers In Millions: 76.3

Percent of Households watching: 41.3%

Date Aired: May 14, 1998

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5.) Friends



Viewers In Millions: 52.46

Percent of Households watching: 29.8%

Date Aired: May 6, 2004

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6.) The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson



Viewers In Millions: 50.0

Percent of Households watching: --

Date Aired: May 22, 1992

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7.) The Cosby Show



Viewers In Millions: 44.4

Percent of Households watching: 28.0%

Date Aired: April 30, 1992

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8.) All in the Family



Viewers In Millions: 40.2

Percent of Households watching: 26.6%

Date Aired: April 8, 1979

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9.) Family Ties



Viewers In Millions: 36.3

Percent of Households watching: 20.8%

Date Aired: May 14, 1989

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10.) Home Improvement



Viewers In Millions: 35.5

Percent of Households watching: 21.6%

Date Aired: MAy 25, 1999

Host Marc Maron had the late Harris Wittels as a guest in "the garage" for episode 424 of WTF less than two years ago, back in September of 2013. The day after Wittels was found dead, Maron reposted that interview.



"This is what we do here on WTF, in respect for people who have passed away," Maron says by way of introduction.

Most of us aren't used to someone as young as Wittels, who was just 30 years old, as having demons. Even in retrospect it's hard to say that we can even glimpse them here.

Starting out as a Jewish kid from Oklahoma, Wittels talked to Maron about recreational drug use starting in his early teens. At one point in the conversation, he says that he had done so many hallucinogens like acid and ecstasy at concerts that, by the age of 25, he'd stopped using them because he didn't find the effects all that interesting.

Apart from bouncing between being clean and using, the main picture that emerges is more about a young man who discovered comedy, and his facility for it, beginning around the age of 18 and how that changed his life. Seeing acts such as Doug Stanhope and opening for the likes of Bobby Slayton at The Improv in Houston were formative experiences, Wittels shared with Maron.

In pursuit of standup, he found himself drawn to Hollywood, doing sets and working as a grunt at Comedy Central, where "I'd answer phones and watch South Park episodes in the vault," said Wittels. Nine years ago, at 21, Sarah Silverman saw his standup set and invited him to submit writing samples for The Sarah Silverman Show. He got the gig and was a staff writer through 2010. From there he got on staff in the second season of Parks and Recreation, working his way to an executive producer title while also appearing on the show.

He revealed to Maron that he considered himself a bit of "a fraud" given his rapid rise once he got to Los Angeles. "I didn't even have to eat that much shit when I got out here," he laughingly said.

As Wittels talked about his life, still in high gear as this interview was laid down that, there's really no hint that, just two years later, it would come to such a tragic end.

This review originally posted as part of This Week In Comedy Podcasts on Splitsider.com.