Week Of What!?

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Connecting to the events occurring in the world around us has become as easy to do as breathing.

Like a pulsing heartbeat, endless apps, websites, and the mega-tron of social media are updated constantly - if there is something happening in the world, odds are you can find an informative (maybe not always informative...) article or post.

The citizens of this information driven society absorbs it all up on a daily basis, but how do we begin to compartmentalize it all? Is it possible to take it all in?

Being a person that faced with this dilemma often gets overwhelmed  (I want to read and know everything that is happening), I have to take a step back from it all and try not to become crazed. Otherwise, like earlier this week, I turn into Jesse Spano.

As a compromise with myself, I simply seek out a couple "important" tid-bits that make me feel connected to the events of the day, as well as discovering some news story or trivia facts that made me excited, most often making me burst out a loud "what!" from the other side of a screen, newspaper, or magazine.

This has been a huge news week, filled with culture defining changes. It's hard  to think of anything else after the Supreme Court decision last Wednesday, but here are just a couple other items that have been blowing my mind recently:

What? That's A Cover!.

Building up to the excitement of her new release, and getting tickets to her gig in September, I have been in a very Neko Case-y mood.

This merged with my affinity for doo-wop/rock girl groups of the 50's and 60's earlier this week, when I was presented with the reality behind a favorite song from Case. Well, what I always believed to be one of her songs.

Once again Pandora brought something new to my attention when it started playing a familiar tune, "Train From Kansas City", but with slower beat and sung by a chorus of girls. Now I know I actually owe credit to those ladies behind "The Leader Of The Pack", The Shangri-La's, for creating one of my favorites.

To me it's interesting to discover which songs are actually covers, some more surprising than others ("Respect", for example). Even with this factoid and actually enjoying the original, I still hope to hear Neko bust out her more pumped up version live someday.

That show Medium was real?

No, Patricia Arquette doesn't work for the police, but apparently cops actually use psychic tips as a basis for tracking killers.

I didn't hear about this story when it actually happened in 2011, but recently a follow-up article over at Gawker caught my eye.

The local police department storming onto a couple's property looking for a mass grave, and claiming they are murderers all because of a psychic vision sounds like, 1. a terrible novel, and 2. is definite cause for a lawsuit.

What's baffling is the entity being sent the $6.8 million bill.

According to the Gawker article, a suit against the police department, fell through. The psychic didn't exactly force the property invasion, just made a suggestion, but that doesn't seem to be an important factor.

Several news outlets also rushed to conclusions and covered the story, before any real information was released, and though a suit was also dropped against CNN and The New York Times, they are owed a public shaming.

All blame is resting on the psychic, who is set to pay the wad of dough to the couple that has had their name wrongfully tarnished. The law suit is more than justified, but really, the police department is not facing the most blame? Our justice system at work.

No! Not T-Bone

Nashville, may have had the most ridiculous, yet highly enjoyable season finale of the last five years, but there was one thing that kept us coming back even with the sometimes terrible, over the top storytelling - the music.

We can all cry black mascara tears, as it was released that T. Bone Burnett, the mastermind behind the music on this show and many movies (including Walk The Line, and the upcoming Coen Brothers', Inside Llewyn Davis), will not be coming back for Season Two. 

Will we get anymore catchy, often beautiful tunes, or will the show completely crumble? Covers have already been thrown in a few times, so now will it merge with Glee and just be covers all the time?

As this show is set in a thriving music city, and not run by Ryan Murphy, a new music producer may be able to throw together more soulful, folksy, countrified covers a lot better than auto-tuned pop mash-ups.

Filibusterin' Like A (Wo)Man

Back in high school when I was learning about the government and certain rules set up for the Senate and the House, the idea of a filibuster actually made me annoyed. Why should anyone be able to distract from a vote, especially when important bills are trying to get passed?

Like usual, I was only looking at it like the Pollyanna type I am, still naive with a gleam in my eyes as if the people in government were always trying to pass laws that are positive for all people.

Turns out  filibusters can be inspiring, and as most everyone knows, we saw that happen this week.

Wendy Davis literally stood up against, what most would say, our culture's most controversial issue - and she did so with passion. After 13 hours, she was being applauded from coast to coast and had a pair of internet famous tennis shoes.

Not everyone agrees with her stance on the issue, but we should all be able to acknowledge that having the guts to push against a majority is highly admirable.


The week has just begun and so much has already been boggling my mind. Paula Deen? Plus you heard Michelle Obama joined Instagram, right?

Until next time!