Sunday, February 7, 2016

What was your favorite Super Bowl halftime show?

The question of the day: What was your favorite Super Bowl halftime show? 

Please visit this LINK to cast your VOTE  


Here, from ABC News Radio, is a list of all 26 modern era Super Bowl halftime show performers, in chronological order:
1991 — New Kids on the Block
1992 — Gloria Estefan
1993 — Michael Jackson, performing with 3,500 children
1994 — Country stars Clint Black, Tanya Tucker, Travis Tritt, Wynonna, and Naomi Judd
1995 — Patti Labelle, Miami Sound Machine & Tony Bennett
1996 — Diana Ross
1997 — ZZ Top, James Brown, the Blues Brothers featuring Dan Aykroyd, John Goodman and James Belushi
1998 — Boyz II Men, Smokey Robinson, Martha Reeves, the Temptations, Queen Latifah
1999 — Stevie Wonder, Gloria Estefan, Big Bad Voodoo Daddy
2000 — Phil Collins, Christina Aguilera, Enrique Iglesias, Toni Braxton
2001 — Aerosmith, 'N Sync, Britney Spears, Nelly, Mary J. Blige
2002 — U2
2003 — Shania Twain, No Doubt, Sting
2004 — Janet Jackson, Justin Timberlake, Nelly, Kid Rock, P. Diddy
2005 — Paul McCartney
2006 — The Rolling Stones
2007 — Prince
2008 — Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers
2009 — Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band
2010 — The Who
2011 — Black Eyed Peas
2012 — Madonna
2013 — Beyonce (and Destiny's Child, briefly)
2014 — Bruno Mars feat. Red Hot Chili Peppers
2015 — Katy Perry, Lenny Kravitz & Missy Elliott
2016 — Coldplay, Beyonce and guests
Copyright © 2016, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.



Please visit this LINK to cast your VOTE  

Saturday, February 6, 2016

A Slow, Slurring Sonnet



I get so sad and melancholy when I hear a Leonard Cohen song. Cohen's art is so full of longing and regret that it often evokes a melancholy mood on its own--but that is not the sole reason for my reaction.

Cohen writes songs like the one featured here, Love Itself, and when performing invokes the words as if he were having an intimate conversation with an old friend. I often feel like an eavesdropper when listening to a Cohen song. And it makes me feel sad because Cohen has somehow figured out how to express deep human emotions in an effortless, off-hand manner.

But the casual conversation so effortlessly tossed out for any ear is often just exactly what my soul is struggling so hard to say. My own emotions are so difficult for me to express. How is it that Cohen can so easily expose the human heart? How is that possible? How is it fair? I try so hard and nothing happens. Cohen talks with anybody or nobody over a cup of coffee and the wisdom of the ages is revealed in a slow, slurring sonnet.

Not fair.

Wednesday, February 3, 2016

Ring the Bells that Still Can Ring





Ring the bells that still can ring
Forget your perfect offering
There is a crack in everything
That's how the light gets in.


I love the poster.
I recognized one of my favorite Cohen quotes.

Searching the PhilosFX archive, 
I found this old post 
with a similar quote from the Sufi mystic, Rumi. 


Was Cohen channeling Rumi? 
Or are the two just kindred souls? 


A universal Truth awaits those who seek it.