Goodbye, Ruby Tuesday

Saturday was not only the season finale of Saturday Night Live, but also the finale of Kristen Wiig - it was her last episode of SNL. Before watching SNL the next morning (we PVR'd it), I had no idea it was going to be her last show. I think I teared up a little during the ending, when they did the musical send-off.

I loved Kristen's skits on SNL, and I loved her in the movie Whip It! in which she played a roller derby girl named Maggie Mayhem. I loved her in Paul as well. And then there's Bridesmaids: while there were some scenes I wasn't entirely keen on, it was still hilarious (especially her scenes with Jon Hamm ;D Note to under-eighteen readers, the movie is R-rated). I loved her characters, like Gilly, Kat (of Garth and Kat fame), the Target lady, among others. If they put out a 'best of Kristen Wiig' SNL DVD (and they had better do that, or fans might be pissed off), I would probably buy it.

I heard on the news that she has six movies in the works right now. Even so, I didn't want her to leave SNL. I had this childlike feeling during the cast's tribute to her, this feeling of "But I don't want you to go! I love you! Why can't you stay?" I guess she's been my hero all along, but I just didn't realize it. Watching that tribute, though, I think she had a hard time saying goodbye, especially to the cast member that had started around the same time she did. It was heartbreaking to watch.

Thanks to the musical send-off they gave Kristen, I don't think I'll be able to listen to the songs "She's a Rainbow" and "Ruby Tuesday" without crying.

I'm bored.

Yes, a very original title :p

I actually haven't posted in two days. 'Tis odd.

So last night Toronto FC had their home opener match, but I didn't get to see it because it was on Gol, a channel we aren't subscribed to :( And I won't get to watch a Toronto FC match until next Sunday, because their match this Sunday is on Gol. So I'm kind of annoyed.

I watched the SNL special last night. It was pretty awesome.

Hmm, what else... I have a strange itch to go on Jeopardy!, so I looked online to see if they had online auditions. It turns out they have them once a year, and I missed the deadline :( Oh well, there's always next year.

I also have a new goal - or, rather, a goal for a goal. One of my New Years' Resolutions was to get my beginner's driver's license, and yesterday I decided that I want to work towards getting it before Thanksgiving Day in October (Canada's Thanksgiving Day is earlier than the US Thanksgiving Day). That way, when I get my beginner's I can get some practice driving in the snow. So I'm going to read my driver's manual every afternoon upstairs and watch The Facts of Life on DejaView on the little TV :p That show is my new addiction, because I've seen almost all of One Day At A Time, which they seem to have cycled out. And maybe tomorrow I'll watch Nikkei TV on Omni BC and read my manual.

I have shamelessly slept in again

I think the reason why I slept in until after 11:00 was because of a weird dream I had. I can't remember all of it, but it had something to do with these two kids trying to get a certain amount of money (I think I may have been 'seeing' the dream from one of the kids' point of view), and one of the kids - the girl - lived in this cottage-of-sorts, if I remember correctly. And I think she had a grandmother that was a splitting image of Edith's mother in 'Allo! 'Allo!. And I think that, for some strange reason, Father Guido Sarducci was in the dream. He's an SNL character. Google it.

I guess that's what I get when I watch old seasons of SNL...

I have to go through my shirts today, because there's one tank top that is definitely going in the garbage. It's an old, ratty Old Navy tank top that my sister gave me years ago, and it's getting very threadbare. I also have a royal blue Old Navy tank top (again, a hand-me-down from my sister) that is getting a little small, and a green tank top that I never wear because it's ugly and doesn't fit well.

I also plan on burning a copy of that Green Day CD. I need more music in my iTunes library, and something to blast when I'm pissed off.

Underrated Singers

I was watching an episode of SNL from the third season (1977-1978), and was listening to Leon Redbone sing, and thought, 'He's an underrated singer. I should write a post about underrated singers.' So here it is.

I'll talk about Leon Redbone first.



He has a growly voice that reminds me of Tom Waits. Or Louis Armstrong. And it's hard to define what his genre is: blues? Bluegrass? Jazz? Or maybe a combination of the three? Anyway, I don't know much about him except that he's been on SNL a lot. I can't think of another musician who has been on SNL as much as Leon Redbone. He's like Steve Martin or Buck Henry, always appearing once a season. I'll have to look him up on Wikipedia and find out how many times he's been on SNL. I think he's great, but I had never heard of him until I started watching the first season of SNL. Robert Johnson I'd heard of, Willie Dixon, Howlin' Wolf, Muddy Waters, but Leon Redbone? Never heard of him until I saw him on season one of SNL.

Another underrated singer is Meatloaf.



A lot of critics hated his debut album, Bat Out of Hell. Why did they hate him? I think the two reasons are: people didn't understand his style, and he isn't a skinny pretty-boy. But I like him. Most of his songs were written by the epic songwriter Jim Steinman - at one point, though, they split due to creative differences, and Meatloaf wrote his own songs. I've never heard those songs, but my mom, a true Meatloaf fan, doesn't like them. I think critics have even said that he 'can't sing', but if he can't sing, then why does he fill stadiums?

Another favourite of mine is Frank Zappa.


Though he still has a huge fanbase years after his death in the early 90s, I still think he's an underrated singer. He had a knack for thumbing his nose at authority. Before there was Green Day, there was Frank Zappa.

I love his sound - it's so hard to describe. It's strange, rhythmic, jangly, bluesy... he took bits of jazz, blues and rock and fused them into a whole new genre that is way beyond description. It's difficult to think of another musician who's done something as surreal as this with music. Or with anything, for that matter.

So there you have it. Three singers that people either hate or have never heard of.

edited to fix a 'has' to a 'had' in the bit about Frank Zappa

Time for some awesomeness, people :)

1. YouTube is liking me again. It turns out that they were doing updates, which is why it thought that my Flash was out of date or my JavaScript was turned off.

2. I think I have my new library card memorized. Although I find it pointless that they gave me a 'teen card' when I'll have to get an adult card next year.

3. Coldplay's gonna be on Saturday Night Live this week!!!!

4. I'm doing NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) this year, starting on November 1st.

5. I sent an e-mail to the Knit.1 staff asking when the next issue would be out, and I got a reply - they said that it will be out on December 16th.

6. I think we're having chicken wings for dinner, but I'm not sure. My parents bought chicken wings today.

7. My parents also bought chips today.

8. While my parents were out doing grocery shopping, I read We're Going to See The Beatles! and drank a huge mug of hot chocolate. And then I started drinking some Dr Pepper. I didn't finish the whole can yet, I figured I'd put it in the fridge so that my teeth won't get too rotten :p

9. I just remembered that Ugly Betty is on tonight!!!

10. I think I'll make a funky scarf for Breanne for Christmas.

I don't know WHAT is in nanimo bars, but they're good!

More on nanaimo bars later.

So I went to church today. It was okay. It's just felt so phony since the minister was forced to resign. There was a potluck after the service, but we didn't stay for it because my mom had a NaNoWriMo meet-up to go to at a local cafe. I went with her, and I've decided to do NaNoWriMo this year - and yes, Dianna, I know I'm crazy ;) The folks who came were pretty cool. Mom and I each got a chai tea - well, actually, Mom got two. I don't know what my brother was talking about when he said that the coffee at the cafe is expensive, it's pretty reasonably priced to me. But then again, he's probably used to cheap Tim Horton's coffee... Anyway, I got a nanaimo bar later, and Mom got a tart. I actually started writing stuff down for a story, so it's lookin' good. It's mostly an outline at the moment. Actually, I have to get my outline out of Mom's purse, because she let me use her notebook to write stuff down. I was going to bring a book with me, but I forgot.

The knitting's going good. I made a teeny scarf out of my leftover rainbow Red Heart Traditions. It turned out shorter than I'd expected, so it's more like a neckwarmer. It kinda looks like one of the girls' Chilton ties from Gilmore Girls actually! I'll have to take photos of my knitting when I remember to...

Crap, I gotta finish Justin's scarf. I still have time, though.

I also have to start swatching for Breanne's headband.

Anyway... I started another skinny scarf with my yellow Red Heart Kids. And I'll probably make lots of skinny scarves with my acrylic. I can't believe I didn't think of this before!

I've almost finished watching season one of SNL. I think I have only one episode left to watch. Hehe. It's gonna be almost two weeks overdue!

I have a bunch of stuff waiting for me at the library. Mostly CDs, but a book on Photoshop CS3 is there too. After I pick that book up, I'll have to make a new badge image for the Tamora Pierce group on Rav.

I have to do math tomorrow.

Blah.

edited to correct my bad spelling

The GED book has been found!

I guess it was in a box of books. But seriously... was it there the whole time???

In other news:

1. Mom and Dad are cleaning like crazy. I've tried to help, but I think it's best if I just stay far, far away right now
2. I can't find my favourite SNL skits from the 70's on YouTube. Except for a really crappy video where someone is holding a video camera up to a TV. Gah. I just can't win.
3. The dogs are driving me crazy.
4. I'm not looking forward to my upcoming dental appointments.

The market, my parents, and Saturday Night Live

First, my parents and the market.

We went to the farmer's market this morning. Maybe I should've stayed home. There weren't too many wasps, but when I flinched, Dad yelled at me, saying that it provokes them. Uh, Dad, what the heck was I supposed to do! It buzzed right in my ear! It's human nature to recoil!

And then we're walking back to the car, and Dad makes a sudden left turn, and I'm standing with Mom in between the sidewalks, and a car is stopped in front of Mom. So what does mom say?

"Sam, pay attention! It's like walking with a ten-year-old!"

Well, it's not my fault that Dad decides to make sudden turns when there's cars coming out everybody's ears.

Then in the evening, Mom's mad because she told Dad that she wanted to order Chinese take-out, and he started drinking. He only had one beer, so he was okay to drive, but Mom wasn't too keen on it. Which I totally get. Then, when I wrote down what we wanted to order so that my dad could read it aloud over the phone, I asked him if he could read it, because I made some errors with the pen, and my writing is a bit small. So he read, "Pork fried vice...", because apparently, I can't write. So I flew into a rage, and he flew into a rage, and I went downstairs and put my headphones on until Mom called me upstairs to watch the Major League Soccer game (Toronto FC beat New York 3-1, by the way!!!!!).

And now, for the SNL portion of this post.

I started watching season one of Saturday Night Live this afternoon while my mom was making grape jam. I ate some of the grapes, and they were pretty sour, but good. I got to see John Belushi's impression of Joe Cocker, which was hilarious!