Hello!

Congratulations on your new blog! I have just been watching "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof". A must see for anyone from a dysfunctional family! Makes my own family seem normal! (I love each and everyone of them!) An ageless, real and hard hitting film. Excellent acting with Burl Ives, Paul Newman and the bodacious Elizabeth Taylor in her prime! The genius of Tennessee Williams! Bravo!

Thanks, and welcome. With all the crap that's out there, movie- and music-wise, I have always wanted a way to let people know when I see or hear something that I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy.
Conversely, I get really excited about some of the stuff I see and hear, and really want to share it. It's great to have a place that will give me a foru.

Thanks, Townhall!

Arik! Do you know the music of Carmen McCrae? She died recently, maybe in the last two or three years. A great talent, in the league of Ella and Dinah. One of the most beautiful songs I have ever heard is her interpretation of "If You Are But A Dream" ... Try to find it on the internet. I know you can, it will be worth the journey!

I haven't actually heard of her. I will certainly look her up at some point when I am actually at home, and my wife will allow me to use the computer.

If you like old-fashioned music with a modern twist, I would definitely recommed the Asylum Street Spankers, especially the CDs "Pussycat" and "Strawberry," both of which give a pretty good representation of their live show, which is top-notch. Christina Marrs is the woman in the group, and she has one of the most amazing voices I've ever heard. She can pull off songs that are a hundred years old, and still sound perfectly at home on songs that would be top-40 today. They are occasionally off-color, often funny, frequently controversial, and always entertaining. I thought they were a joke-band when I first went to see them, due to the few songs I'd heard on morning radio, but they are all serious musicians, who very obviously enjoy what they are doing.

Another good one, and one of the founders of the Spankers, is Guy Ritchie. I took my daughter to see the Spankers (the rude humor generally goes over her head, and she loves pretty much all kinds of music), and Guy Ritchie opened, or more precisely, co-headlined. She (and I) were absolutely floored. Where the Spankers are almost like going to a vaudeville show, Ritchie is a more staright-forward blues guitarist, and one with considerable skill.

I'd go see either of them at the drop of a hat. In fact, I would actively seek them out, though the Spankers are on maternity leave at the moment.