Have only had one flare up of Ants since the day I set the traps. Thank you for your concern.
With that out of the way... let me tell you about my newest obsession...
My friends for years and years have been trying to force the music of the Barenaked Ladies into my ears. I have fought it and resisted. I could pick out their songs on the radio and if forced to listen to them in a car, I could sing along. But I could never wrap my mind around what kind of band they were. A little "Weird Al" parody or an uptempo James Taylor? Either way, I had no desire to take the time to find out and would just deal with them as they came to me. This was also how I approached them last Friday night at the Greek Theater when they opened for Alanis Morissette.
First off, Alanis I love. Alanis saves me buckets and buckets of money in therapy. There is this strange synergy I feel with her. She came into my life in 1995 as my heart was being cheated on and bludgeoned. She sang "You Oughtta Know" and I screamed along with her. I remember my trip to Los Angeles shortly thereafter where I heard her songs full blast at BB King's during The Simpson's Christmas party. She sang "All I Really Want" and I knew I wanted it too. That was the same day I made the decision I would move to L.A. I remember being in El Centro, California on Three Kings, alone driving in the desert listening to Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie. I was lonely, uncertain about life and all that was going on around me. In a nutshell, I was miserable. The ironic part (some pun intended) is that on paper, I should have been on top of the world. My movie career was thriving. I ended each day playing basketball with George Clooney. I was living my life above and beyond expectation. Alanis wrote SFIJ after the success of Jagged Little Pill with the same confused heart. She was on top of the world and sold one of the biggest selling albums of all time, yet she wasn't happy. The album couldn't have consoled me at a better time.
In 2002, she released Under Rug Swept. Once again, her lyrics were a snapshot of where I was. "I can feel so unsexy for someone so beautiful". She wrote a song wondering about an almost run-in with the guy she wrote "You Oughtta Know" about. She wrote about her fears, insecurities and forgiveness. Things I was learning simultaneously with my "YOK" subject. "21 Things I Want in a Lover". I could come up with more, but the 21 listed would create, by my standards, the perfect man. The whole album was an inward reflection that I happened to be taking and there is solace when you realize that someone else, regardless of fame and celebrity, is going through the same thing. One of my brother-in-law Mike's favorite memories of me is on Christmas morning when I made him watch my Alanis DVD and I sang along full volume. Needless to say, I really love Alanis... and seeing her live is always an epiphany laden experience. Paddy gets her the same way I do, so it just enhances the evening.
She and I were neither excited nor tormented by the idea of the Barenaked Ladies opening the concert. Our bigger concern was whether BNL would open for Alanis or the other way around as traffic had us running late. We arrived as BNL's set began with "Brian Wilson". Paddy bought me a beer and she indulged in a margarita. Our seats were remarkable, 4th row on the right (thank you Denise!). The boys on stage were fun. They were funny. They were talented musicians. Their harmonies rivaled Crosby, Stills and Nash. Ed Robertson kept looking in our general direction and to say that he had beautiful blue eyes with depth for swimming in is an understatement. I was enraptured by their performance and towards the end of their set, we were all on our feet dancing and singing along.
(yeah, that's him!)
Alanis snuck out during "Call and Answer" and turned it into a duet with them. Any ideas who stood in their seat crying?
A night that already had high expectations for one performer, ended with an elated heart full of new music and a new appreciation for all things barenaked, exceeding and raising the bar of all expectation.
Perhaps this will help me resolve my own issues with being a "Nevernude". But I will save that topic for another day...
Today it is all about BNL... Does anyone know how I can see a copy of Jason Priestley's documentary "Barenaked in America"? I had no idea that it had no American distribution, theatrical or video. I am officially a converted BNL fan...
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