Showing posts with label Bloomington (IN). Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bloomington (IN). Show all posts

Monday, March 11, 2013

Hoosiers! And the day after my beloved IU Hoosiers win their first Big Ten regular season basketball championship in 20 years, we speak now of the other beloved "Hoosiers." New York Times film critic A.O. Scott on what makes "Hoosiers" not just a great sports film, but a great film for the ages


Opening scene and credits of MGM's 1986 "Hoosiers," with Jerry Goldsmith's iconic Oscar-nominated score. Uploaded June 1, 2012. http://youtu.be/tUqhPsZh93Y


NYTimes video: N.Y. Times film critic A. O. Scott reviews the beloved 1986 MGM film "Hoosiers" about Indiana high school basketball -and personal redemption- set in 1951, and why it still remains a film for the ages. Uploaded March 3, 2009. http://youtu.be/AzgOZ0xHCEA

And on the day after my IU Hoosiers win the Big Ten basketball regular season championship for the first time in 20 years, a game they appeared certain to lose to Michigan in Ann Arbor before coming back in the final seconds, we speak of the other beloved "Hoosiers."

In 1986, I was living in Evanston, Illinois, the suburban home of IU Big ten rival Northwestern Universitylocated on the shores of Lake Michigan, a town full of bright and fully-engaged professional, academic and management types just north of Chicago, and a world separate and apart from the life I had known and led in North Miami Beach and in Bloomington.

Then as now I was a big sports fan and avid movie-goer, a lover of not only classic films, but the worlds of advertising, journalism, American and European history and politics.
And like many of you reading this today, a sucker for smart and knowing well-made films about comebacks and teamwork and overcoming adversity against all odds, including those of self-sabotage, as was the case with Dennis Hooper's character in the film, where he played former basketball star-turned-alcoholic father and assistant coach "Shooter" Flatch



In short, I was the perfect demographic for the MGM film that came out that year loaded with a cinematic all-star lineup and a narrative that was straight out of both Indiana and Hollywood, loosely based on a story I'd known for years since leaving South Florida in the rear-view mirror for the Cream and Crimson of the beautiful rolling hills of southern Indiana and Indiana University in Bloomington, late in the summer of the year that the film 'Breaking Away" had been released to popular and critical acclaim.

Because of who I knew and what my interests and passions were, I'd been hearing and reading about the film from the very beginning, even before it was ever shot, from friends in Los Angeles involved in the entertainment industry and thru my avid and copious reading of the film industry trades I usually bought most weeks, like Variety.

From the crucial initial choices made in on-screen casting as well as those behind-the-screen with respect to the writer, director and even the film's composer, I knew that it could be a very special film indeed if all the stars aligned, and yet you never know how these things will go, despite the talented team you assemble.

So, it was with all of that history and knowledge very much front and center in my mind that I found myself one cold night in Evanston literally leaning against a wall while in line outside of a movie theater, forced by timing to listen to a bunch of jaded and self-indulgent NU grad students blabbing about the film and story in ways that bore absolutely no resemblance to what the reality was or what was soon to come.

As ridiculous as it sounds now, they even joked about leaving after an hour because how could this story about Indiana high school basketball possibly turn out to be anything worthwhile, even with Gene Hackman.
Yes, they really said that.

But you know what I did?
I kept quiet.
I kept my mouth shut and refused to play the Marshall McLuhan card as Woody Allen had does in his Oscar-winning Annie Hall.
You know what scene I mean.



I found myself there at that point in time because I'd had the good sense and foresight many months before to call in some IOU's from folks I knew around the Chicago area who were very much, yes, "in the "Loop" in the Loop.
The sort of people who know things before the masses and have unusual access because of who they are or what they do.
Since I wasn't afraid to reciprocate, I was also never afraid to ask for favors when it came to something important, as long as it was legal and above board.

I told them, these media and business mavens, that I wanted to be in the audience for the sneak preview of "Hoosiers " weeks before the film actually played in Chicagoland, and if possible, somewhere near Evanston.


View Larger Map


That's how I came to be standing in line with a special pass from a film-related concern to attend a special sneak preview of "Hoosiers" at a then-extant movie theater on Central Avenue, located across the street from the Wildcats' athletic facilitiess, the-then Dyche Stadium and Welsh-Ryan Arena.


Hickory High head coach Norman Dale (Gene Hackman) gives his underdog Huskers some pregame reminders and encouragement just moments before the start of their championship game against South Bend Central. Preacher Purl (Michael Sassone)  delivers a message that seems tailor-made for the upset-minded team. Uploaded February 13, 2011. http://youtu.be/3gKbrj2nZis
"And David put his hand in the bag and took out a stone and slung it. And it struck the Philistine on the head and he fell to the ground. Amen."
- Preacher Purl encouraging the underdog Hickory High basketball team before the state title game against heavily-favored South Bend Central in 1986's Hoosiers 

The rest as they say is history.

I've seen this film well over 25 times from beginning-to-end, less than some, but surely more than most.
Though that's still less than I've seen "Breaking Away," a film that I know inside and out like I know the smiles of my three adorable nieces in any large crowd.

Sunday, April 8, 2012

Bringing out the Cow Bells for Easter! Stevie Wonder's genius "Another Star" still sends me -and reminds me of cross-country drives at night with the windows down, his music filling every inch of the car


Stevie Wonder - Another Star
http://youtu.be/mGIIegMncWg
"There might be another star, 
But through my eyes the light of you is all I see..."
Simply put, genius personified.

One of THE greatest songs ever for playing while driving across the U.S.A. at night on the Interstate, especially on curving roads that you maneuver like slalom runs, gliding with little effort.

And it's even better when you're by yourself at 2 a.m. and there's no side traffic and you can use your steering wheel as your synthesizer and drum.

When I close my eyes and hear this song (and this iconic album), I almost immediately see myself, circa 1979-1987 on I-24 getting close to Chattanooga, and I-75 in Georgia, north and south of Macon, circa 1979-1987, with stops at the Shoney's Big Boy for a post-midnight slice of Key Lime pie and real Cherry Coke, because another hamburger is not what the doctor ordered. Sugar rush!

This video is 100% accurate about the first two minutes depicted here! The immediate area around Monteagle, TN, whether going up or down the mountain, was always THE scariest part of the drive for me between Miami and Chicago -or Bloomington- because of all the armies of trucks that were just flying by me -doing the speed limit- and the cars driven by locals that were passing THEM!
Even while bits of wet rocks and gravel from the mountain were always just inches from the road.
Runaway truck!!!!!


That was always the case heading north towards IU in Bloomington or up to Chicago/Evanston from North Miami Beach, because it means that I still have a ridiculous amount of driving still ahead of me.

And the thing is, even though we've never met, I know that somewhere up on I-65 north of Nashville, maybe just inside of the Bluegrass State, there's at least a few sleepy truck drivers in Kentucky pulling big rigs I have to be wary of, because while they may've stopped to eat, they're still sleepy.
Why?

Because there are always sleepy truck drivers at night around there.
Always!

Guys who'll drive faster than the posted speed limit while its raining hard, and I know in advance that IF I don't keep a nice safe distance, ahead of them or behind them. their water will just pour onto my windshield like I'm drowning and make my windshield wipers useless.

Trust me, that is damn scary at night on long stretches of roads with trucks forever getting on your bumper while you're trying not to get blown off the road.

The 1980's route from my past to my then-present


To quote myself, "If only blogs and digital cameras had existed then."
I'd have hundreds and hundreds of amazing photos and shots of the passing American scene of the 1980's I knew -and lots of restaurant reviews!- and dozens of anecdotes about my friends and classmates I visited along the way who lived along the Interstate that connected my past and my then-present in America's heartland. 

Especially like my sweet and adorable friend, Beth George in Louisville, whose friendliness, smile, wit and accent never failed to amaze me, and make me thankful to have someone like her as a friend.
Yes, she wasn't an Indiana Pi Phi for nothing!

------
5 p.m. Postscript: YouTube Frustration.

Since I posted this earlier this morning, I realized that I'd forgotten to add something that was nagging me after I hit "Post" and went to sleep.
Maybe those of you who are my age or share my particular musical tastes and come to this blog fairly often thought the same thing I am now, since it has happened before with other videos of musical talents I greatly admire and appreciate and have chosen to post here.

Since rather out-of-the-blue I'd found myself humming and singing this great song for the past few days while stuck in traffic around the area -something that happens multiple times a day around here at this time of the year because of visitors and toursists, esp. given that there are only three main roads to navigate thru the city- I had already decided that I was going to post this version of the song on the blog today, since late Saturday night is usually the easiest time for me to write something pop culture-related, even if I don't post it for a few days.

The song, which came out as a single in the summer of 1977 when I was 16 years-old and soon to be an Junior at North Miami Beach Senior High School, and one that everyone I knew then, male or female, White or Black or Hispanic, petite gymnast or lanky soccer player loved.

And so, that being the case, that everyone actually DOES LOVE Stevie Wonder, esp. his material from that era, I assumed that it would be rather simple to find a long version of the song on YouTube with him singing it that year or within a few years, whether from a concert or TV appearance, as well as find a version there of British singer George Michael singing the song, too, since he loves it too and has sung it in the past on his concert tours, esp. in Europe.
I'd seen the videos of that before, so knew that going in.

But early this morning I discovered that despite all the tens of millions of things on YouTube, there is NOT a single video of Stevie Wonder singing the song in concert or on TV pre-1985, and NOT a single good video of George Michael singing it in concert, whether via a handheld camera or TV broadcast, where both the audio and video were very good, much less amazing.

Instead, for the latter, much to my consternation, there are a lot of bits and pieces of the song being sung in London, Manchester, Amsterdam or Antwerp where the video is very good but the audio sucks, or vice-versa.

This one from a June 2007 concert at the City of Manchester Stadium has a fan's amazing video of George Michael literally circling the crowd as it were, but the fans around him are so loud that some audio is drowned out. 
Man, this video could have been spectacular but for the other fans.

And sometimes, the rare ones that are good at both, like this one also at that week of June 2007 dates in Manchester, end after barely more than two minutes, in the middle of the song, right when ridiculously-talented George Michael is really getting into the swing of things.
Wow that is SO frustrating!


After spending a lot of time looking, for me and my ears and eyes, this video below from a George Michael fan going by the name of unotraitanti, is THE most consistent quality version on YouTube, but if you know of one that is better, both audio and video clarity, please let me know.


unotraitanti's video: George Michael - "Another Star" (cover of Stevie Wonder) LVE, Manchester, England.
http://youtu.be/rg2fExdhgBc

http://www.youtube.com/user/unotraitanti

Thursday, January 27, 2011

Now THAT'S singing! The Babys - Every Time I Think Of You [HQ]; Michael Bublé - Stardust [LIVE-HQ] -with Naturally 7


The Babys - Every Time I Think Of You (HQ)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fjU50ow95aM


Simply put, a perfect song in every way: lyrics, instrumentation, singing and pacing.
Nothing wasted, it's all right there for you to hear and see.

When I think back to being at North Miami Beach High School for the second semester of my senior year, early 1979, eager to be out of the confines of the Sunshine State, and then just a few months later, suddenly being far removed from there in spirit and attitude, in Bloomington at IU, where people's musical tastes more closely mirrored my own, I think of this song.

This Babys song was one of the handful of songs that I and my guy friends most loved to sing together in cars, in our dorm rooms, at fraternity houses, at "Swimmer parties" or even walking past certain sorority houses, especially the ones on North Jordan, where we had female friends who were in the IU Music School and who possessed silly-talented voices that could more than handle the female parts of the song.


It probably sounds crazy to read this, especially to those of you who went to Southern schools or small liberal arts schools in the Northeast, but I have so many happy memories of being somewhere in Bloomington with friends on snowy winter nights -but with a window popped open to keep everyone from sweating to death in their sweaters!- and this song being played and EVERYONE in the room, a dozen strong or 200-strong, singing that ending chorus in unison like we were all up on that stage with
John Waite, "Every Time I Think of You...."
Wow, those were the days!

John Waite
is so perfect on this song that it's hard for me to even conceive of someone else doing it justice.
Like someone else ever doing Stardust better than its creator, Hoagy Carmichael, one of IU's greatest alums ever, who wrote the song while a student, and a man whose loyalty and philanthropy to IU is incalculable on the one hand, but runs into the millions of dollars on the other.

http://hoagy.com/
http://www.dlib.indiana.edu/collections/hoagy/

I've even been to the spot, more-or-less, where he composed the iconic song.
http://www.dlib.indiana.edu/collections/hoagy/index.html

Well, okay, I'll grant you that Willie Nelson's is in the conversation for Stardust, because there's no arguing that album of pop standards was a classic, but he and his transcendent talent are the exception to every rule, isn't he?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stardust_%28album%29

Right now, this version by
Michael Bublé with Naturally 7 is about the best I've heard since that iconic Willie Nelson American Songbook album just knocked everyone's socks off, and was bought by fans from 17 to 70.



Michael Bublé - Stardust [LIVE-HQ]
-with Naturally 7
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cINpA4sSzu0


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EIviZRTOMbM

Sunday, December 12, 2010

Nokia N8; When you combine French sexiness and un certain joie de vivre with Finnish design, you get... Nokia's House Party to end all House Parties!




Nokia N8 HD-- My Superfun House Party


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TGamyeJsJ-4&feature=player_embedded

More than anything else, this video reminded me of:
1.) certain elaborate Capitol Hill and Georgetown parties I attended in D.C.,
minus the bikini-clad wrestlers.

2.) most of the the "Swimmer" parties at IU, in Bloomington, especially those thrown at the Lantern House Apts., circa 1981-83, by my great friend Dave Whitmore from Overland Park, KS, who lived across me at Briscoe Quad my freshman year.
Dave and I quickly became fast friends because of similar interests and geography, he just happened to be faster than me in the water -even while doing the backstroke, his specialty- which is just part of why legendary IU and Olympic swim coach "Doc" Counsilman chose Dave to be captain of the IU swim team, and why I became such a familiar presence at Royer Pool inside the HPER and at their social shindigs.
I even missed the 1980 U.S.-Russia Olympic hockey game the Friday night it was first broadcast because I was at Royer for a meet against Michigan.

"In the Heart of a Great Country, Beats the Soul of Hoosier Nation."
-
South Beach Hoosier, i.e. me, in 2007.



Those "Swimmer" parties were insanely fun and animated, and featured some of the most beautiful women on campus on a large Big Ten campus of uncommonly beautiful and smart girls-next-door to begin with, something my friends and I were eternally grateful for.

When there were big sorority social shindigs going on that we weren't part of
, we got even MORE of the beautiful coed "Independents," like my sweet and talented friend Laura Seitz from Pittsburgh, also an IU swimmer herself for a while, always so breath-taking and dapper in her sweet cherry red Adidas IU swim jacket, something I can still see today with eyes closed.

Laura was someone I knew from her very first week on campus, as she was also at Briscoe Quad my sophomore year, and for me, sort of became the model for the sort of well-rounded college students that IU has so many of: diligent with her studies, always asking good probing questions, great sense of humor and always game for some tennis on a lazy afternoon or taking in a movie or an IU soccer game.

I was indeed fortunate to have so many high-quality and high-caliber friends at IU the likes of Dave and Laura.


3.) certain IU frat parties, esp. Alpha Tau Omega on Third Street the weeknd before classes started, which
featured a live band, or the parties at Sigma Chi that I usually found out about after they'd started by my friend there who could recite the dialogue from Fast Times at Ridgemont High by heart the same way another friend down here at NMB had been able to recite dialogue verbatim from Gone With The Wind.
And accurately, in those pre-video and pre-YouTube days, too, which is all the more remarkable.


If only we had had cell phone technology, camera phones and blogs back then, the fascinating stories I could tell you about my friends and IU with photos...


Like with a Nokia N8, now that I think about it.

C'est la vie


Which reminds me, before it's too late...

Dear Santa, Secret and Otherwise:


The Nokia N8 comes equipped with a 12 megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss optics and Xenon flash, HD-quality video recording, film editing software and Dolby surround sound.
http://conversations.nokia.com/2010/04/28/first-sample-hd-video-captured-on-nokia-n8/

Compared to what I currently have to work with now, it would really help a humble blogger like myself ferret-out more hidden facts and capture below-the-surface skullduggery and crony capitalism in action in chaotic South Florida -and look good while doing so!
I only mention it, Santa, since you asked me to be more direct this year and to not beat-around-the-bush.

If you have any questions, please see: http://events.nokia.com/nokian8/home.html


Nokia France YouTube Channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/NokiaFrance

The official Nokia blog: http://conversations.nokia.com/

WTIU-TV's
documentary about James "Doc" Counsilman

http://www.indiana.edu/~radiotv/wtiu/doc/

http://www.finnishdesign.com/

http://finland.fi/Public/default.aspx

Saturday, October 9, 2010

A marriage made in heaven -in my head, at least: marrying opera singer Malena Ernman's performance of "La Voix" to a Pairs Ice Dancing routine; @Malena_Ernman



Eurovision Song Contest YouTube Channel:

Malena Ernman - La Voix, Sweden 2009; new version. 

Uploaded April 24, 2009

Written by Fredrik Kempe.


I wrote about the ridiculously-talented Malena and the song here on the blog last year: http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/search/label/Malena%20Ernman


Honestly, why hasn't SAS figured out a savvy way to incorprate this catchy song and Malena into a new TV campaign for the airline, showing sophisticated places in Europe where talented and sophisticated Malena is both flying and performing in? 

I mean the video is practically an invitation AND how-to-guide served up on a silver platter? #frustrating.

Here's the version Malena performed at last year's Melodifestivalen

Still gives me #goosebumps! 

https://youtu.be/5WH2OwJeMBE

The craziest, brilliant idea I've had in quite some time came to its logical conclusion in next-door Aventura late Saturday afternoon, after I'd watched the latest in a long line of dreary, punchless Indiana University football losses to Big Ten teams since that seminal Bill Lynch victory over Purdue two years ago, losing to Ohio State 38-10 over in Columbus. 

(More on the ballgame later today.)

Yes, it involves another trip by yours truly to the "Venezuelan" T
arget, which was in rare form late Saturday, completely living up to its well-earned reputation as being the #1 casual hangout hereabouts for all the many beautiful Venezuelan women living in Aventura and SE Broward County, plus, their very good-looking Argentine friends. Claro!
Style-wise, it's the closest thing to being back in Washington, D.C. or Stockholm.


Over the past week, I'd been going thru some songs I'd favorite-ed on my YouTube Channel since I first signed-up and created it, which included some songs that I know that 99.9% of you have never heard of. Like REALLY, REALLY never heard of.
http://www.youtube.com/user/HallandaleBeachBlog

So as a result of that, I've had some songs in my head recently that I haven't thought of in quite some time, and been humming many of them as I wait in a long line in the many left-hand turning lanes on Hallandale Beach Blvd. that you MUST endure to get anywhere in this traffic-gridlocked city next to the ocean.



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kghCqyMLPFA

Catchy songs, pop songs, songs with hooks...

No, not just the delightful Kristina Pelakova singing "Horehronie" in Oslo, above, which I mentioned here recently, but also some terrific catchy French songs as well, which I'll share here soon so you can "hear" what I've been thinking about lately.
You know how I love the EuroPop!


So, with the items I needed I inside the snazzy, new streamlined Target plastic shopping carts I was piloting -SO MUCH lighter and quieter than the old metal ones- I ambled over to the back of the store to where they keep 'seasonal' products, where I spied the hysterically funny and clever Halloween costumes for kids. Sorry the photos aren't clearer!

Below, October 9, 2010 photos by me, South Beach Hoosier at the Aventura Target
.





Eventually, after wandering the three aisles they have for Halloween costumes, I came across a thirty-something year old father with his kid in tow, waiting patiently for the wife/mother member of the triangle to make up her mind about whatever it was she was choosing between as the head consumer of the family.

And then, out of the blue, inspiration hit me like a bolt of lightning. 

I heard this kid humming something that I couldn't quite make out.
And the next four words that came to mind were, strangely enough, "Malena Ernman" and "Ice Dancing."


Frankly, I'm writing this now knowing in advance that I won't be nearly able to adequately describe this enough to satisfy myself, much less you, despite how clear it is in my head.

But I have just got to get this out of my head before I go crazy.

It's frustrating, like trying to describe how intensely beautiful Bloomington and nearby Brown County are, esp. in the Fall when the leaves are changing colors, http://www.browncounty.com/ 

to someone who has not only NEVER been there, and can't conceive of how magical it is.
To say nothing of only vaguely sure where, precisely, Indiana is located in the Midwest, which, shockingly, is the case with lots and lots of people I've met in South Florida since returning from the Washington, D.C. area seven years ago.
http://www.flickr.com/search/groups/?m=pool&s=rec&w=576934%40N24&q=Brown+County%2C+Fall

Reminder: west to east -Iowa, Illinois, Indiana: the Three I's.
Michigan is north, Ohio is east and Kentucky is south. Got it?

I won't even try to mention the technical descriptions of the particular dancing skills and requirements that I can so easily visualize in my head, since 99.9% of you won't understand them even if I did, but...

If anyone out there reading this knows of at least two very talented skaters who are looking for some music to accompany their choreography in Ice Dancing, especially for an exhibition, I think you could really strike gold with La Voix, as performed by fabulous opera singer Malena Ernman, which was the song she sang representing Sweden at the 2009 Eurovision Song Contest in Moscow, where Alexander Rybak of Norway won for Fairytale



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y4D_hguWPQE

More info on Malena and the ridiculously catchy song that WILL stay in your head.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_voix
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malena_Ernman

Twitter @Malena_Ernman  http://en.twitter.com/Malena_Ernman


IF anyone knows of any figure skater(s) anywhere, more likely in Europe, whether singles or pairs, who has already used this intensely catchy song in competition or an exhibition, please let me know how it turned out. 

And if there's a video of it somewhere on the Internet, all the better.

In the right hands, this song could/would/should be a dynamite crowd-pleaser for a very talented Ice Dancing couple.

Jayne Torvill & Christopher Dean -STILL the GOLD  standard!

Torvill & Dean performing to Bolero at the 1984 Winter Olympics in Sarajevo- HQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t2zbbN4OL98




Tessa Virtue & Scott Moir at 2010 Vancouver Olympics



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lE4TbwxMsCA


Official website for 2010 Olympic Gold Medalists
Tessa Virtue & Scott Moir of Canada: http://virtuemoir.com/




Official website for Malena Ernman, chock-full of interesting photos, videos and anecdotes about her career and life. An opera singer with a great sense of humor, moxie and humanity!: www.malenaernman.com

A marriage made in heaven -in my head, at least: marrying opera singer Malena Ernman's performance of "La Voix" to a Pairs Ice Dancing routine; @Malena_Ernman



Eurovision Song Contest YouTube Channel:

Malena Ernman - La Voix, Sweden 2009; new version. 

Uploaded April 24, 2009

Written by Fredrik Kempe.


I wrote about the ridiculously-talented Malena and the song here on the blog last year:http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/search/label/Malena%20Ernman


Honestly, why hasn't SAS figured out a clever way to incorporate this catchy song and Malena into a new TV campaign for the airline, showing sophisticated places in Europe where talented and sophisticated Malena is both flying and working/performing in?

You know, like Scandinavian travelers? 
I mean the video at the top is practically an invitation AND how-to-guide served up on a silver platter to SAS? #frustrating.

Here's the version Malena performed at last year's Melodifestivalen

Still gives me #goosebumps! 


https://youtu.be/5WH2OwJeMBE

The craziest, brilliant idea I've had in quite some time came to its logical conclusion in next-door Aventura late Saturday afternoon, after I'd watched the latest in a long line of dreary, punchless Indiana University football losses to Big Ten teams since that seminal Bill Lynch victory over Purdue two years ago, losing to Ohio State 38-10 over in Columbus. 

(More on the ballgame later today.)

Yes, it involves another trip by yours truly to the "Venezuelan" T
arget, which was in rare form late Saturday, completely living up to its well-earned reputation as being the #1 casual hangout hereabouts for all the many beautiful Venezuelan women living in Aventura and SE Broward County, plus, their very good-looking Argentine friends. Claro!
Style-wise, it's the closest thing to being back in Washington, D.C. or Stockholm.


Over the past week, I'd been going thru some songs I'd favorite-ed on my YouTube Channel since I first signed-up and created it, which included some songs that I know that 99.9% of you have never heard of. Like REALLY, REALLY never heard of.
http://www.youtube.com/user/HallandaleBeachBlog

So as a result of that, I've had some songs in my head recently that I haven't thought of in quite some time, and been humming many of them as I wait in a long line in the many left-hand turning lanes on Hallandale Beach Blvd. that you MUST endure to get anywhere in this traffic-gridlocked city next to the ocean.



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kghCqyMLPFA

Catchy songs, pop songs, songs with hooks...

No, not just the delightful Kristina Pelakova singing "Horehronie" in Oslo, above, which I mentioned here recently, but also some terrific catchy French songs as well, which I'll share here soon so you can "hear" what I've been thinking about lately.
You know how I love the EuroPop!


So, with the items I needed I inside the snazzy, new streamlined Target plastic shopping carts I was piloting -SO MUCH lighter and quieter than the old metal ones- I ambled over to the back of the store to where they keep 'seasonal' products, where I spied the hysterically funny and clever Halloween costumes for kids. Sorry the photos aren't clearer!

Below, October 9, 2010 photos by me, South Beach Hoosier at the Aventura Target
.





Eventually, after wandering the three aisles they have for Halloween costumes, I came across a thirty-something year old father with his kid in tow, waiting patiently for the wife/mother member of the triangle to make up her mind about whatever it was she was choosing between as the head consumer of the family.

And then, out of the blue, inspiration hit me like a bolt of lightning. 

I heard this kid humming something that I couldn't quite make out.
And the next four words that came to mind were, strangely enough, "Malena Ernman" and "Ice Dancing."


Frankly, I'm writing this now knowing in advance that I won't be nearly able to adequately describe this enough to satisfy myself, much less you, despite how clear it is in my head.

But I have just got to get this out of my head before I go crazy.


It's frustrating, like trying to describe how intensely beautiful Bloomington and nearby Brown County are, esp. in the Fall when the leaves are changing colors, http://www.browncounty.com/ 

to someone who has not only NEVER been there, and can't conceive of how magical it is.
To say nothing of only vaguely sure where, precisely, Indiana is located in the Midwest, which, shockingly, is the case with lots and lots of people I've met in South Florida since returning from the Washington, D.C. area seven years ago.
http://www.flickr.com/search/groups/?m=pool&s=rec&w=576934%40N24&q=Brown+County%2C+Fall

Reminder: west to east -Iowa, Illinois, Indiana: the Three I's.
Michigan is north, Ohio is east and Kentucky is south. Got it?

I won't even try to mention the technical descriptions of the particular dancing skills and requirements that I can so easily visualize in my head, since 99.9% of you won't understand them even if I did, but...

If anyone out there reading this knows of at least two very talented skaters who are looking for some music to accompany their choreography in Ice Dancing, especially for an exhibition, I think you could really strike gold with La Voix, as performed by fabulous opera singer Malena Ernman, which was the song she sang representing Sweden at the 2009 Eurovision Song Contest in Moscow, where Alexander Rybak of Norway won for Fairytale



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y4D_hguWPQE

More info on Malena and the ridiculously catchy song that WILL stay in your head.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_voix
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malena_Ernman

Twitter @Malena_Ernman  http://en.twitter.com/Malena_Ernman


IF anyone knows of any figure skater(s) anywhere, more likely in Europe, whether singles or pairs, who has already used this intensely catchy song in competition or an exhibition, please let me know how it turned out. 

And if there's a video of it somewhere on the Internet, all the better.

In the right hands, this song could/would/should be a dynamite crowd-pleaser for a very talented Ice Dancing couple.

Jayne Torvill & Christopher Dean -STILL the GOLD  standard!

Torvill & Dean performing to Bolero at the 1984 Winter Olympics in Sarajevo- HQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t2zbbN4OL98


Tessa Virtue & Scott Moir at 2010 Vancouver Olympics



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lE4TbwxMsCA


Official website for 2010 Olympic Gold Medalists
Tessa Virtue & Scott Moir of Canada: http://virtuemoir.com/



Official website for Malena Ernman, chock-full of interesting photos, videos and anecdotes about her career and life. An opera singer with a great sense of humor, moxie and humanity!: www.malenaernman.com


Dave
Twitter: @hbbtruth, https://twitter.com/hbbtruth