The Last Ship

I could talk about Broadway shows all day every day.  Just yesterday an attorney I work with told me her husband is in the orchestra of The Lion King and I got super excited.  Monday evening I got a call from my lovely friend J while I was at work.  She had tickets to see The Last Ship and she invited me to go along.  I was supposed to work late that night so I paused and she started in on the description.  I quickly stopped her with a big fat yes.

All I really know was that Sting had written all the music and that they story was inspired by his childhood.  This show was so different than all the others I've seen this year.  With a mostly male cast, it told the story of Gideon, who returns to his English hometown after 15 years to find that much has changed.  So many shows I see are female driven and take place in New York.  While I love that, this story was a refreshing change.  My favorite part was the music.  The cast sounded like a choir at times and there were some real stand out voices.  The show opened in October so I will be interested to see how long it runs.

Podcasts

You know when you love something and you feel compelled to tell everyone about it.  I've been listening to podcasts for a little over a year now and I wanted to talk about a few of my favorites. 

(1) This American Life - Everyone knows about this show already.

(2) Serial - I got turned on to Serial when it debuted on This American Life several weeks ago.  I was immediately hooked and I tune in every Thursday to hear the new episode.  This first installation will total twelve episodes and follows a fifteen year old murder case.  The man whose been in jail for the murder all this time had little motive and was based on the testimony of one alleged witness who changed his story and lied about important details of the case.  And there was no physical evidence linking they guy in jail to the crime.  The witness just recently made his facebook profile semi-private.  Prior to that you could see all his information with a simple search.  The way Sarah Koenig reports on this case is mildly frustrating at times, but she is a journalist and not an attorney so I try to forgive the naive level of faith she has in the Baltimore's police investigators and legal system circa 1999.  It's gripping and definitely my favorite podcast ever.  This one appeals to me as a lawyer.  

(3) The Radical Personal Finance Podcast - This podcast is incredible.  This host, a financial advisor, interviews early retirees, minimalists and others approaching their financial lives in a way most middle class Americans would deem radical.  Many of his topics and interviewees follow principles similar to those of the Mustachians on the Mr. Money Mustache forum.  He also comes from a Christian perspective which I really appreciate.  As someone with a bachelors in finance and associates in economics, who still managed to make the poor choice of taking on a great deal of law school debt, this one appeals to me on many levels.

(4) The Read - This is one of the most popular podcasts out there.  I cannot possibly explain my love for this show.  There is far too much profanity and Beyonce worship for my taste. Nevertheless, I laugh like crazy and I absolutely live for their reader questions.  There is something inexplicable about their banter that draws me in until I star googling the random rappers and d list celebrities they talk smack about.  They also make a lot of sense about a lot of things even though I disagree with them often.  

I realize these are quite a hodge podge of shows but each one serves an interest of mine.

On the Town

Today was a great day in the city.  I went to my husband's church for a change and then we went for a stroll around Home Depot.  I never thought I would be strolling around Home Depot looking at kitchen and bathroom fixtures on a Sunday Morning.  Then we came home and watched Scandal and Covert Affairs and I found out that I had won the lottery for a Broadway show.  I love how I'm going to a show every month these days.

On the Town is a really fun song and dance show about three sailors out on the town in New York City.  The leading lady was a ballerina so there were some really beautiful dance numbers throughout the show.  At the beginning of the show the orchestra played the Star Spangled Banner so we all stood and sang.  You could tell it was a theater full of musical fans because every last person was ecstatic to stand up and sing at the top of his or her lungs.  After we went to Virgil's for dinner.  I am an old lady and I love the city more today than I did yesterday.  Jennifer and Manhattan sitting in a tree.  k-i-s-s-i-n-g.

Songs in the Key of Life

Since the first anniversary present is traditionally paper, I went with Stevie Wonder tickets as a present for my husband.  Last night we went to Madison Square Garden and saw one of the great musicians in earth's history.  I wasn't prepared to be among the youngest there.

India Arie performed with him on a couple songs, and Whoopi Goldberg got up on stage and danced with with everyone as he played his last song.  All the songs were from his Songs in the Key of Life album, which I mention was one of my top ten favorite of all time six years ago here.  Needless to say I was elated when he played As, one of the most amazing songs that has ever been written. What a privilege it was to hear him perform live.  He played a harmonica duet!  I could gush on and on but my sister is going to the concert in Atlanta in a couple weeks and doesn't want any spoilers.  I first fell in love with Stevie Wonder when he was on The Cosby Show but I really started checking out all his old albums when Mariah said he was her favorite.  I love Stevie Wonder.  I love New York.  I never want to leave.  The end.

What I'm Watching

I'm not a huge fan of the new shows this fall, but here are the exceptions. I hope these stick around for several seasons.

Even though I don't love being a lawyer, I absolutely love shows about lawyers no matter how outlandish.  The plot of this is so exciting and there are lots of interesting characters. 

I did not anticipate becoming a fan of this show, but I really enjoy watching it.  The closest thing I've ever seen to a telenovela before this was Ugly Betty.  This is now where near as awesome as Ugly Betty, but it's still fantastically entertaining.  And obviously I love the fact that she's waiting for marriage.  The 5% of us have to stick together. 

The Flash is really cute and the last episode featured Wentworth Miller who I believe will be a recurring character.  I am a sucker for superheroes and I am watching Gotham although I preferred the first episode to the last few.

Bibliophilia

Unfortunately, I've been reading a lot less lately.  My work schedule and the return of fall television shows doesn't allow me the time.  There is also the matter of running out of books.  My favorite authors just don't write quickly enough.  I finished these two in the last couple weeks and that's about it.  Murder in a Basket, the second in its series, was a decent mystery, but I figured out who did it pretty early on.  

 

L.A. Candy was the first in Lauren Conrad's series loosely based on her own time on The Hills.  I never imagined this book would be so good.  I wasn't prepared for the cliffhanger ending though.  It was so frustrating to not have not have the next book in the series on hand.  I've been a fan of L.C. since her Laguna Beach days.  Despite her perfect hair and clothing, she is just so relatable just like the protagonist she bases on herself.  It would make a great beach read and I hope to take her other books along for some of the plane rides I have ahead of me in the next couple months.