A weekly(ish) series where I talk briefly about somebody who I think is cool for one reason for another.
One of the first music videos I ever remember seeing was "Take On Me". (And some crazy Pink Floyd video my mother turned off because "Pink Floyd sucks"!) It was one of my favorite 80s songs, but I never looked into the band more. Even when my now-ex tried to get me to listen to their other albums, I had no interest. I don't really know why that suddenly changed, but a few years ago I developed a little obsession, as anybody who's read more a few entries here should know.
While most people know of a-ha, or at the least know "Take On Me", fewer know who the individual members are. And while most people who know me would expect this to be a drool-fest over Morten Harket, I actually have positive things to say about the other two band members! Specifically, right now, Magne Furuholmen.
Who he is: Keyboardist for a-ha; singer; song-writer; artist. And hottie, but that's secondary.
What he's done: Written a lot of awesome songs, for one, both for a-ha and his own albums. He's put out two albums of his own, Past Perfect Future Tense and A Dot Of Black In The Blue Of Your Bliss; his voice is really unique and sort of scratchy, and both albums have a lot of beautiful acoustic guitar. He's also done music for soundtracks. He also does some cool, quirky art, some of which can be seen here--one of his projects was to design an official postage stamp for Norway.
Why I love him: All of that! He's written some of my favorite a-ha songs, like "A Fine Blue Line" (which somebody has randomly put to dolphins, there); and I love all his solo songs, especially "Kryptonite" (video below). He also seems genuinely funny and charming, from the two concerts I've been to and from watching him talk to crazy fans (who got to the crowd barrier before me in New York, dammit!).
(I've decided that "Friday admiration" sound too stilted and stuck-up. Let's face it, I'm a sarcastic little person, so this new title really fits better. Besides, I don't truly admire a whole lot of people--but people who just don't suck is a much bigger spectrum.)
A weekly(ish) series where I talk briefly about somebody who I think is cool for one reason for another.
At around the age of twelve, I was digging through my grandmother's CD collection (back when CDs were a novelty!) and came across a CD called Timepieces: The Best of Eric Clapton. At the time, my snotty little adolescent mind classified it at fogey music and paid no more attention. I was too busy listening to Mariah Carey and Tevin Campbell (I know, I'm embarrassed now!). I don't really remember what my moment of realization was; I think it was hearing "Layla" on a classic rock station and hearing them actually say who it was. After that, Clapton became my first long-lasting musical obsession. Who he is: Seriously? If you need me to answer that, you can get off my blog. Unless you're under the age of 15, and then maybe you have an excuse. But not much of one.
What he's done: Uh, been awesome for decades. Written and performed some of the coolest songs ever, beaten heroin addiction, beaten alcoholism (twice), survived the death of his son without reverting to drugs or alcohol, been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame three times, and continued to make amazing music.
Why I love him: There are so many of his songs that just totally bowl me over, no matter how many times I listen to them. I don't even mean just the obvious ones like "Tears In Heaven" and the ubiquitous "Wonderful Tonight" (which makes me laugh now, since he was pissed off at his wife when he wrote it). Even songs that he didn't write, he generally does them so well that I don't even hate the fact that they're covers (he did a cover of Bob Dylan's "Born In Time" that I just adore).
And no matter how many times I see him live (four so far, last time was a couple of months ago), I'm always riveted by how ridiculously fast his fingers move to coax sound out of a box with strings on it! I've been looking all over Youtube trying to find a perfect example, this one's pretty good (both the intro and the solo at about three minutes in).
A weekly(ish) series where I talk briefly about somebody who I think is cool for one reason for another.
I used to work at a Lane Bryant, and one of the advertisements we had in the store was a poster nearly as tall as me. It was an add for Seven7 jeans, and showed a pretty dark-haired girl in a garden, looking over her shoulder. I absolutely loved it. Sometimes when I was alone in the store I would stop and just look at it, and her. When I left, I wanted to take it with me as a wall decoration--it really was a beautiful photograph, in addition to the woman being lovely. I had no idea who she was until last fall, when I opened a Glamour magazine and there she was! Who she is: Crystal Renn, former straight-size, current plus-size model.
What she's done: Ads for Lane Bryant and Torrid, all sorts of magazine spreads, finale dress at 2006 Gaultier show (right).
Why I love her: Renn started out doing traditional modeling early in her career, and was at one time a size zero--in fact, she weighed less than 100 pounds. Not that I put much stock (okay, any) in the BMI, but her BMI was about 13. And guess what? She wasn't happy. She didn't feel healthy. So she quit her job--on the verge of getting a $40k contract--and started eating again. She's now about a size 12, and absolutely smoking hot. And she does more than catalog work--she does the same sort of editorial layouts her skinny counterparts do, for Elle and Vogue and other magazines. She's also very open about how she struggled to fit into the straight modeling world, and how much happier she is now at the size her body wants to be. Even though she's not what I would consider truly fat, I think she's an awesome size acceptance role model. And because she's a model and therefore puts herself out there for people to oogle, I have no qualms about saying that aside from all the intellectual reasons I love her, she's a total babe.
Just as a comparison, here are two pictures of her. The left is when she was a "normal" sized model, and the right is current. Doesn't she look so much healthier, and sexier, now?
A weekly(ish) series where I talk briefly about somebody who I think is cool for one reason for another.
Just because I like to shoot my mouth off about things, I've decided to implement weekly "columns" of a sort. Well, the goal is weekly, we'll see how often I actually get around to it! I just want this blog to have a bit more focus, I guess.
Friday columns will be about people I admire. I admit, I feel a bit lame doing this--it seems a bit cheesy. I'm going to try to make it at least somewhat interesting--no cop-outs like Mother Theresa or Lance Armstrong.
Today, I admire author Laurell K. Hamilton.
Who she is: author of 30 published novels, plus short stories.
Why I admire her: She publishes two full novels a year, to start with--and not short ones. As somebody who likes to write, and used to write fiction for fun, I appreciate the work involved--both in terms of labor hours typing, and in terms of coming up with ideas, connecting the dots, keeping track of what's happened in all the books previous, etc. Plus, the first two Anita Blake books have been made into comics, so there's a lot of work there, and she's working on a screenplay for a movie of Guilty Pleasures, so basically it's a ton of work.
Also, I think what she writes about is amazing. I started out reading the Anita Blake books, and I love the details. It's modern-day St. Louis, but with a supernatural twist, and the little things that make it feel real are awesome--like a casual mention of a Pulitzer Prize-winning photo of the last witch burnt at the stake. A lot of the supernatural fiction is just supernatural beings plopped into our world, but the details in the Anita Blake and Merry Gentry books make it seem absolutely grounded in reality--even when dealing with something like a night hag being magically turned inside out.
It's also rare to find women authors, with women characters, that are as violent and sexual and self-assured as Hamilton's characters are. That's usually the territory of men. I think it's awesome to read a female character talking about her guns, and the way she arms herself, and the difference between Glaser Safety Rounds and regular bullets. I love Anita's snarky, sarcastic bitchiness.
As far as the sexual stuff ... people criticize that there's too much sex, some people are just terribly offended by it. I think it's awesome, particularly in the Merry Gentry series, because the character of Meredith is absolutely unapologetic about the fact that she's regularly having sex with a lot of men, usually more than one at once. I think there's too much shame about sex in our society (despite the media sexualization of everything), so I think it's refreshing that the characters are shameless and the author is unapologetic about what she writes. Is it perfect? No; there are some feminist issues I won't go into here.
But overall, I love LKH's books, and to sound like a total fangirl, I'm in awe of her creativity.
Next week: Your mom. Ha! Seriously, I don't know yet.
to say about the other two band members! Specifically, right now, Magne Furuholmen.
