Weekend Round-Up

Hey y'all.  You all know how I love a Saturday at home with nothing to do but laze about, watch stuff, putter around, and drink coffee.  Fortunately for me, I've had that opportunity today.  I've been spending most weekends in Toronto since I moved to Waterloo and so there's something really relaxing and therapeutic about having the freedom to be in my own space on a weekend.  I miss my GF, but this is a happy alternative.  I mean, at this moment I'm blogging and listening to Beyonce in my underwear.  Heaven.

I don't have anything specific to discuss, so here's another round-up of what's tantalizing my five senses.

Beyonce
Obviously.  She really deserves her own post, and very likely will get one, but right now I just want to acknowledge how fully and completely I love her self-titled album.  Yes, I was a little tardy to the party by my bestie W's standards, but I got there and I'm partying hard with our girl B.  My singular favourite song changes by the day to some degree, but the top 5 (out of 14) audio tracks are: ***Flawless, Drunk In Love, Jealous, Partition, and XO.  It's just so damn good.  Beyonce consistently raises the bar.  She's in a category all her own.  I love her, she's so talented, she's so beautiful, she inspires me..... I... there are no more words.

Adore Delano

You may or may not know that the 6th season of "RuPaul's Drag Race" is currently on and I've really been enjoying it.  I joined in on watching RPDR during 4th season and having now seen all seasons, 4th is probably my favourite.  I liked some of the 5th season queens, but it wasn't as good a season overall.  6th on the other hand has really been delivering.  Queens are one minute your favourite and the next minute not serving it.  For example, I found Adore Delano really obnoxious and weird the first couple of episodes and then just as suddenly she's my favourite and I want her to win.  Don't get me wrong, she's not as polished a queen as others, but she is so entertaining and charming and funny and has charisma, uniqueness, nerve, and talent.  I can't wait to see what she does tomorrow night.

"Not A Bad Thing"
I always love what Justin Timberlake puts out and the two parts of "The 20/20 Experience" have been no exception.  However, I haven't listened to them the way I listened to "Justified" or certainly not "Beyonce".  That said, I love love LOVE the song "Not A Bad Thing" from Part 2.  I posted the video in my last blog post and I have been listening to the song on loop for a couple of weeks now.  I'm obsessed.  So good.

What else...

Let's leave it at that.

Legit Jams 5.0

Sometimes I wake up and music is like oxygen.  Here's what's making me bum dance in my chair at work.



Pay attention to around the 1:30 mark when the melody is re-alligned with the beat. Brilliant.



This song is so great! The video cuts through some of the song, but the video is great, too. I prefer the video in some ways because it only plays the first half of the song... the second half is long and boring on the album, I think. And I love JT.



I was tardy to the party (relatively) for Beyonce's self-titled album. My bestie W. chastised me mercilessly and I'm glad I didn't wait any longer than I did. The album is... ***flawless.

Media + In Between

My life is a little upside-down at the moment - all in good ways - but I'm trying to keep up-to-date on my media.  I don't really follow any shows these days, and those I do, I haven't been keeping up with.  I was also chastized by one of my best friends - as only a best friend can chastize you - for not really knowing Beyonce's new album by now.  So, I'm listening to it in my office as we speak - my third time - and obviously loving it, but I'm still planning on an in-depth listen and viewing as I get more settled in Waterloo.

I have a particularly hard time being in between things.  Right now I'm living temporarily at a best friend's place in Waterloo until I get possession of my new apartment on Saturday.  At that point I'll be living without all my stuff and furniture for about three weeks, allowing for lots of time with my iPad watching Beyonce videos, and doing very little of anything else aside from working + working out.  So, it's decidedly an "interim" time, and it's tough on me, but I'm trying to enjoy the process instead of spending energy waiting for the next thing.  If you embrace them, the in between times can be really wonderful, too.

S&G's Top 3

My favourite magazine is Toronto Life.  It's my favourite because I'm from Toronto so it seems that much more relevant than other mags, and it's my favourite because it's written in a style that I can easily digest, and it's my favourite because it's one of the only magazines that I can easily read cover to cover.  I just gobble it up.

Toronto Life has a feature that they use in every issue (I think...) where they have 3 different individuals speak about their favourite book, movie, or music; each one will discuss a different medium.  It might be an indie bookstore owner speaking of a book, or an indie record shop owner speaking about his new favourite album... you get the idea.  (They once had the owner of Videoflicks speaking about his latest fave movie... I friggin' love Videoflicks).

So - what is the point of all this?  Well, I'm going to do my own version of that feature... except I'm going to give my opinion on all 3 of those things.

Sugar & Gravy's Top 3  

1. MOVIE: I saw "50/50" this weekend.  All I can say is... "wow!"  It was one of the best movies I've seen in a while, and I've seen some good movies over the past few months ("Bridesmaids"... "Moneyball"...).  "50/50" was just totally different.  It was one of the most creative story lines I've ever seen, and the acting and writing were spot on.  Joseph Gordon-Levitt was totally charming as his character, and honest and raw, and he delivered every aspect of his character perfectly.  I laughed so many times throughout and I cried... oh how I cried!  I thought my t-shirt would be soaked in my tears at one point.  I just loved it!  Highly recommend.
   
2. BOOK: I haven't written about books in a while, have I?  Well, there's a good reason for that... I haven't been reading much.  Ugh, I'm so ashamed to say it, but it's true.  I don't know if it's being busy at work or lazy at home, or both!  Whatever it is, I want to break the habit and get back into reading, so I made some progress this weekend when I finished Malcolm Gladwell's The Tipping Point.  This is the 3rd book I've read by Gladwell and, like the others, I loved it.  This particular book is about how an idea, once formed, gets to a point where it "tips" and then spreads like wildfire.  Why does that happen?  How can we take an idea and make it tip?  Gladwell suggests 3 factors that contribute to an idea's likeliness to tip: (1) The Law of the Few; (2) The Stickiness Factor; (3) The Power of Context.  You can say that Gladwell takes others ideas and makes them his own, but I don't see it that way.  I think he's just good at researching intensely on a topic and compiling that research and delivering it to the reader in a way that's easy to read and process and understand.  That on its own is a skill, and he does it again with this book.  I look forward to reading the last of his books that I haven't read: What the Dog Saw.  Have you read it?  What did you think?
   
3. MUSIC: For the past 2-3 weeks I have been listening to almost nothing but Beyonce's "4".  I honestly cannot stop listening to it.  I went from liking a few songs to loving a few songs and tolerating the rest of the album to loving all of it and then being OBSESSED (pun intended?) with a few songs.  My faves are "Love on Top", "I Care", and "Countdown", but "I Was Here" has grown on me a lot, and as I said, I really do love all of it at this point.  Beyonce delivered big time with a diverse album that shows her growth and creativity, showcases her talent, and reminds us again why she is one of the biggest players in the game.  Along with "21" and "The Suburbs", this is one of my fave albums of the past 2 years.

Thanks for stopping by, San Diego!