Yesterday, the world finally got to hear Taylor Swift’s new album, 1989, her first dedicated pop album.
I have to be honest and say I was a little apprehensive. So often in the 21st century “pop” has essentially translated to “dance” music; and I can’t say I’m a huge fan of that.
Whenever I try and describe what kind of music I like, I always seem to think of this scene from Music and Lyrics:
Alex Fletcher: It doesn’t have to be perfect. Just spit it out. They’re just lyrics.Sophie Fisher: “Just lyrics”?Alex Fletcher: Lyrics are important. They’re just not as important as melody.Sophie Fisher: I really don’t think you get it.Alex Fletcher: Oh. You look angry. Click your pen.Sophie Fisher: A melody is like seeing someone for the first time. The physical attraction. Sex.Alex Fletcher: I so get that.Sophie Fisher: But then, as you get to know the person, that’s the lyrics. Their story. Who they are underneath. It’s the combination of the two that makes it magical.
I am not a musician. Of any kind. I have absolutely zero musical talent. I am the daughter of a musician, but those genes apparently skipped me and went to all three of my siblings. But hey, I can read really fast, so I have that going for me at least, right?
However, despite my lack of music talent or knowledge, I support this quote and this theory completely. Any song that makes my favourites list, it’s because the lyrics speak to me.
And I feel that so many “pop” songs often lose something from the lyrics when the tune is all bass, auto tune, etc. Give me a piano, a guitar and some strings with vocals any day.
So, when Taylor announced her new album was going to be pop, I was slightly wary.
I adored Shake it Off, so that made me hopeful. I thought Out of the Woods and Welcome to New York were catchy, but they didn’t grab me. My favourite part of Out of the Woods was the bridge, and I’m not a huge fan of songs where 2 lines repeated make a chorus.
I got the album yesterday afternoon (the deluxe edition) and after a few listens since then, I’ve decided upon my Top 5 Tracks:
I Wish You Would
Shake it Off
Wonderland
How You Get the Girl
Style
In all the reviews I’ve read thus far, there’s been a lot talk about Blank Space and Bad Blood. I really did like Blank Space, but I don’t think it’s one of my faves.
But I honestly did not like Bad Blood. Just wasn’t my style. That’s all.
When I get a new album, I always go through and rate each song on my iTunes.
5 Stars= amazing.
4 Stars= love it
3 Stars= it’s good.
2 Stars= it’s ok, but probably won’t go on my iPod
1 Star= not my kinda thing/don’t like it.
Here’s how 1989 rounded out
Overall, I really enjoyed 1989,although I think Red may still be my favourite Taylor Swift album.
I've just finished reading Jodi Picoult's new book Leaving Time. There's no spoilers below, just FYI.
Alice Metcalf was an accomplished scientist, studying grief among elephants. She was a wife to Thomas, and a mother to Jenna. When Jenna was three, she disappeared from hospital after a keeper at the elephant sanctuary she and Thomas ran was killed under suspicious circumstances.
Ten years later, Thomas is in a psychiatric hospital, having suffered a complete mental breakdown after the events of that night. Jenna, now 13 and raised by her maternal grandmother, decides to go looking for answers about what happened to her mother. Did Alice really leave her behind? Did she not have a choice? Or is she dead?
Jenna invokes the help of two people for her search- Virgil Stanhope, one of the original detectives on her mother's case a decade prior; and Serenity Jones, a psychic.
From the beginning, I was intrigued by the story, mostly because of the elephant aspect. Elephants are my mother's favourite animal (well, elephants, wombats and turtles), so I've always been interested in them. And one of my favourite things about Jodi's books, is that I always learn something. The amount of research she puts in is incredible.
It admittedly took me a few chapters to place Serenity, she was a character in a short story Jodi released earlier this year through Kindle, When there's smoke, which I thoroughly enjoyed; so I was very pleased to see Serenity again in this instance. I love when characters from past books appear, and you get a little insight to where they are now. It's like catching up with an old friend.
You don't have to have read When there's smoke before reading Leaving Time, Serenity's background is recapped adequately, but I recommend reading it first anyway. It's a short story people, it won't take long.
The elephants aside, it took me a while to warm to Alice's story- which is stories of her studies on elephants in Africa leading up to the events of her disappearance and what actually happened that night. I found the stories fascinating, but I was much more engaged in Jenna's story and her search for Alice and working with Virgil and Serenity to learn the truth.
And then the story took a twist that I did not see coming.
There was a moment when Virgil and Serenity first appeared in the story, and I thought I had picked what was going to happen; and then something happened that made me change my mind. (I can't say what without giving away spoilers, so this may sound confusing. Just read the book, ok?)
Well, it turns out I was kind of on the right track- but not to the extent of what turn the plot took. Despite my earlier thoughts, I was caught totally by surprise and left gaping at the pages.
If you are a psychic sceptic, completely against the idea, you're not going to like Leaving Time. If you believe in that kind of thing, or are at least willing to suspend your disbelief long enough to read 398 pages, I recommend it.
If you like elephants, I really recommend this book, although it has some very sad stories in it about elephants and grief.
More than anything, Leaving Time is really about the relationship between a mother and her child.
A few months ago, I had a M*A*S*H marathon. Not for the first time, and not for the last time, but it had been maybe a year since I actually marathoned the entire series.
Now, I really love Alan Alda. He is the bomb, and when if he ever dies (I'm hoping he'll just live forever. Him and Julie Andrews), I may actually have to take time off to grieve.
My mum got me into M*A*S*H in 2007, during my last year of high school, and I fell in love with it. Mostly because, as I mentioned, Alan Alda is the greatest.
I knew Alan Alda had been in the last few seasons of The West Wing, but I'd never watched the show. I was 9 when it started, 16 when it ended, and it had never been something I paid much attention to. My mum however, loves it. I suspect this is mostly because of her love of Rob Lowe.
Anyway, when I finished my M*A*S*H marathon, I decided that I'd give The West Wing a shot. So, when I was home for a weekend in August, I borrowed my mum's boxset of the series. Last night, I finished the series.
And I loved it. Really, really, really loved it. It's brilliantly written, and the cast is amazing.
So, now that I've finished the series, I decided to list my Top 10 Episodes. It took a day of careful consideration, and 4 pages of notes, but I finally made my decision. I went through the episode guide and made a shortlist of every episode I remembered that completely grabbed me. There was 24.
From that, I shortened it to 10. And 5 honourable mentions, because I'm terrible at making decisions.(BTW, I just told that story to my mum and she laughed at me) Enjoy!
10. Shibboleth (season 2, episode 8)
It's Thanksgiving, and CJ's first Thanksgiving in the White House (because she had been sick the year before). As the episode progresses and she finds out this entire list of apparently traditional White House Thanksgiving traditions, including choosing between two turkeys (Eric and Troy) to see which is more photogenic and thus receiving a presidential pardon; I didn't think it could get better.
Until it ends in the President drafting the second turkey (which CJ still wanted to save from being eaten, even if he wasn't photogenic) into military service.
There's also a subplot where Charlie is on the hunt for a new set of carving knives for the President, which starts off funny and ends up being very sweet and heart-warming.
9. The Debate (season 7, episode 7) This episode was performed live, twice (one for each coast), which is really why it's on this list. I just find that amazing, plus it was completely gripping. I actually had to remind myself that this wasn't a real election debate at times!
It felt very real, and both Jimmy Smits and Alan Alda did such a brilliant job.
8. Dead Irish Writers (season 3, episode 15)
It's Abbey's birthday and the White House is throwing her a birthday party. I think I love this episode so much because the show was in the midst of such a heavy storyline about the President's MS, and there was so much humour in this episode. The President working on his toast for his wife and trying to be funny; and the First Lady, CJ, Donna and Amy just holed away, drinking.
Donna discovers she's actually Canadian, because the town in Minnesota where she was born has been moved over the border; and Abbey puts together a little surprise for her at the end.
7. The Leadership Breakfast (season 2, episode 11)
This episode contains probably my favourite episode opener of the entire series. But the clip below covers about every reason this episode is on my list.
6. These Crackpots and these Women (season 1, episode 5)
Five words: Big Block of Cheese Day. President Andrew Jackson once placed a two-ton block of cheese in the main foyer of the White House and allowed guests to enter, eat from the cheese, and meet with the President about whatever they thought was important.
In the spirit of this, once every so often, the Bartlet Administration take meetings with people who wish to discuss topics that wouldn't normally be given much discussion. Basically, these end up being random and hilarious episodes.
This is also the episode where we find out about Joanie, Josh's sister; and the President cooks chilli.
5. 20 Hours in America (season 4, episodes 1 and 2)
Yeah, technically two episodes but I'm counting them as one. Josh, Toby and Donna are stranded by the President's motorcade in Indiana during the election. That says it all, really. Another episode that you think is just going to be tremendously entertaining, but at the end surprises you with something really sweet.
4. Shutdown (season 5, episode 8)
President Bartlet shuts down the government when the Speaker of the House refuses to pass the Senate. What I really love about this episode is getting to see Josh showcase his brilliant political mind, through such simple actions. He suggests they go to the Capitol to negotiate the budget. When the President stops to greet some tourists, Josh suggests they walk the rest of the way. When the Speaker and the Republicans make the President wait, Josh suggests they leave; which changes the tide of the media in their favour, making the Speaker look to be the one to blame for the government shutdown.
3. Shadow of Two Gunmen (season 2, epsiode 1 and 2)
I do love a good flashback episode! Getting to see how the team came together during the campaign is fantastic- especially how Donna was hired. To have that as Josh and the President undergo surgery after both being shot and the fallout from that. Such a good episode.
2. Isaac and Ishmael (season 3, episode 1) This was the first episode of season 3, which aired in 2001. It doesn't fit in with the show's universe or timeline, but although I watched it for the first time 13 years after the events of 9/11; it's message is just as powerful now as I imagine it would have been then. It discusses terrorism in a calm, logical manner and I think I understood more after watching this episode than I did before. It's a powerful episode on a subject that is still relevant today, as the West Wing staff try and explain terrorism to a group of students.
1. Celestial Navigation (season 1, episode 15)
Josh gives a lecture about a "typical day" at the White House. Which includes Josh having to do the press briefing after CJ has a root canal, and accidentally alludes to the Presidents' "secret plan to fight inflation". The President's reaction is the best. Plus, Sam and Toby get lost on a drive to Connecticut.
HONOURABLE MENTIONS (AKA Episodes that I love but I thought 10 was a better number than 15):
1. Inauguration Parts 1 and 2 (season 4, episodes 13 and 14). Namely for this scene with all the Josh and Donna feels. Plus, Charlie in this scene cracks me up. (I can't find the scene on YouTube, so you'll just have to watch the episode yourselves!).
2. Pilot (season 1, episode 1). This is one of the best pilot episodes I've ever seen. It sets up so much, and all the characters are pretty much exactly as they are throughout the series, which isn't always true with pilots. I was hooked from the start!
3. And it's surely to their credit (season 2, episode 5). This episode has Ainsley Hayes' first day (who I love. She's awesome).When two staffers leave dead flowers on her desk with a note reading BITCH, Sam goes nuts. Which doesn't happen a lot and I think that's why I love this so much.
4. Noel (season 2, episode 10). A Josh-centric episode dealing with his PTSD after being shot. That's all. I do love Josh.
5. Stirred (season 3, episode 17). We have the President doing Charlie's tax return for him; and Donna trying to get a presidential proclamation for her high school English teacher, who is retiring. Because he can't do that, instead the President calls the teacher from the Oval Office. I think it's because I'm a teacher I love this so much.
THE OTHER EPISODES THAT MADE UP MY SHORTLIST (in case you're interested):
Debate Camp (season 4, episode 4)
Gaza/Memorial Day (season 5, episodes 21 and 22). [I know, they're two episodes. But I couldn't separate them]
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