Support Sara

Hi,

Just a brief message to the loyal RNS leadership (my husband) - check out Sara's website. She's the girlfriend of Andrew's friend Chris - which I guess means she has a tenuous link to me at best, but she lives with Murphy who's a pretty awesome dog, so I'm willing to establish the link through Murphy. Anyway, Sara is a cancer survivor who likes to run and earn money while doing it. She's preparing for another race and is updating her progress on her blog. She is also raising money for charity through pledges for the race. All the important info is on her blog. So check it out. (There are photos of Murphy on the blog too.)

http://sarasurvived.spaces.live.com/

Why I Love NPR, or Why No Morning Should Begin Without Renee and Steve

Today sees the addition of a regular feature on RNS - The Best Thing I Heard on NPR Today. I listen to NPR all the time. I wake up with Steven Inskeep and Renee Montague in the morning on my commute on Morning Edition. I like the nifty facts that Steve shares with me at the breaks and the fact that I know by the time Marketplace Morning starts, I better be at the gate at Fort Belvoir - or else I will be late. I love All Things Considered - except when they are waging their war on Fort Carson and the Army. But even then it gives me something about which to feel self-righteous. I always feel like I learned something new - today I learned that the Jack Daniels distillery in Lynchburg, Kentucky is in a dry county. And that wasn't even the best thing I heard on NPR. It was close - because not only did Morning Edition do a story on the Master Distiller at Jack Daniels retiring, but so did Marketplace - showing what makes NPR happy, apparently. Speaking of Marketplace, this has long been my favorite NPR show. (Which is actually not even NPR, but an American Public Radio production. The distinction is explained here.) I long ago fell in love with Market Place with David Brancchacio. David left us a while ago, bringing in another David. I lost track for a while, but now we have Kai Ryssdal. (Who is totally a Naval Aviator!) At first I disliked Kai, but he's grown on me - in no small part because of his on air demonstration of the video game Rock Star. The other thing I really really really love about Marketplace is that no matter which David, or Ky - they always check the numbers. And it is always one of three songs - "We're in the Money" if the numbers are up, "Stormy Weather" if they are down and "It Don't Mean a Thing if it Ain't Got That Swing" if the markets are split or up only a fraction of a point. If they ever change the songs, I may have to stop listening. But until that day, I'll keep listening for awesome stories on NPR and listening to the numbers and wondering why NPR hates the Mountain Post so much.

Who cares about Oscar when you have Gary?

Normally I would have a lot to say about the Oscars. But overall I found this year a little disappointing - maybe it was the fact that I hadn't seen any Best Pictures noms - or that I am very unlikely to see movies like No Country for Old Men or There Will Be Blood. (I don't do blood, violence, breaking bones, etc.) But there was one moment that made me so happy - Gary Bussey attacking Ryan Seacrest. I am aware this makes me pretty easily amused. I think it might be because shortly after this Seacrest discloses that he has to stand on a box to do these interviews. Or it might just be the sheer ridiculousness of it. But overall, I think its because it just shows Jen and Ryan and Laura as normal people - people who are interrupted by the drunk guy who you don't really want to talk to but don't know how to politely walk away. Lucky for me when this happens on the Metro I don't have millions of people watching me live on E!

Mission Accomplished: Spice

There is truly no better way to kick off my blog than to comment on the awesomeness that was the Spice Girls concert last night. I think it really sets the tone for exactly what this blog is going to be all about.

But to the real story - I had the great pleasure last night to attend the Return of the Spice Girls concert in Washington, DC last night. I have loved the Spice Girls from the very start - attending their concert back during their first world tour. Sadly, the concert I saw back then was right after Ginger Spice had left from the group - and so I had never seen all five together. It was well worth the wait.

Before I get to the fabulous-ness, two comments. One - the Girls were scheduled to come on at 7:30pm. It was probably closer to 8:45pm when they finally took the stage. I know that the sort of beauty and talent that is the Spice Girls takes work, but I would have appreciated a little more timeliness. Comment number two, I have finally seen how my husband has come to the decision that we should not allow any future children access to pop culture until they are thirty. The number of teen girls at the concert wearing clothes in which no self respecting parent should allow their children out of the house.

All of that was forgotten when the awesomeness began. They opened with Spice Up Your Life, which I think was a great move on their part. It is difficult to express all the fun that can be bundled up at a Spice Girls concert. Their outfits are just over the top. Posh is a caricature of herself - she can't dance, doesn't really sing - but you love her, because she is kinda like you. You know, if you were married to David Beckham, ate almost nothing and instead of singing a solo could just march down the runway and have people pay hundreds of dollars to see it. Scary Spice's solo (Are You Gonna Go My Way) was just that, scary. Would have liked to see a bit more of that DWTS skillz she has acquired. But without going song by song, as I have already disgressed into, it was a pretty fantastic show.

So why are the Spice Girls fabulous? Because they are silly. Because their dancing makes High School Musical look like the American Ballet Company. Because their songs are like fill in the blank rhyming exercises you had to do in first grade. For example,

Stop right now thank you very much
I need somebody with the human touch
Hey you always on the run
Gotta slow it down baby, gotta have some fun

They are approachable, and at the same time, huge celebrities. And I am so glad I was able to see their final tour - all five together, for one last time. So, hasta manana, Spice Girls, viva forever.