The Super Bowl According to Kathleen: Favorite Commercials

Last night Husband made me watch the Super Bowl. I had assumed that since his team had already been eliminated that we'd be fast-forwarding through most of the game and watching the commercials. So imagine my horror when I realized at one point that Husband had gone to the bathroom and PAUSED THE GAME!

I knew I was in for a long night. Luckily being the resourceful little blogger that I am, I thought I'd take the four hours of time between commercials that I apparently now had on my hands to write about my favorite commercials of the evening.

First Half:

Bridgestone Tires, "Reply All" -- Best Commercial of the First Half

Video courtesy of wish.

This was the first commercial of the night that caused me to actually laugh out loud. This commercial was a success for a few reasons: first, everyone is familiar with that horror of thinking you sent out an email to the wrong person and second, the physical comedy of this guy knocking over the pot of coffee onto the laptop and wrestling the phone out of the hands of the hiker. Then at the end we have the famous "switch-a-roo" of which I'm always a fan! Good work, Bridgestone Tires!

CareerBuilder, "Working With Monkeys"

Video courtesy of CareerBuilder.

You can't go wrong when you include monkeys. That's basically my motto. This commercial made me giggle, but would have been even funnier with more monkey screen time. Strong effort, CareerBuilder, but take note for next year: More monkeys = Happier Kathleen

Volkswagen, "The Force"

Video courtesy of Volkswagen.

Another completely manipulative and exploitative ad featuring a tiny child dressed in a Darth Vader costume. I was already boarding on cute overload before the lil' Vader turned on the car with his powers only to startle himself. Not sure what this has to do with Volkswagen, but it sure was adorable!

Half Time Show:

Now I happen to enjoy the Black Eyed Peas myself. And I have to say, I was pleased when I heard that the Super Bowl had finally gotten brave enough to ask a more current musical artist to perform the half time show. I don't think I'm alone when I say that The Who's performance last year was near embarrassing.

At first I was a little annoyed at the synchronized clapping of the folks on the field. Hm, where have I seen that before? Oh yeah, Queen at Live Aid more than 25 years ago...and that wasn't choreographed.

But then the suits lit up and the choreographed dancing continued (culminating in an awesome quadruple arrow formation and ultimately with enormous red hearts) and at that point I decided that I approved of the shenanigans.

I was glad when Slash actually showed up to perform Sweet Child O' Mine because otherwise that would have been a really random song choice, but was Fergie trying to sing like Axl Rose or did she just develop a bit of a frog in her throat for that song only? Despite Slash's appearance, I'd say that was the weakest song of the set.

Overall, I thought the show was pretty good. I liked how they played snippets of a bunch of different songs instead of playing only three or four songs in their entirety. I remember a few years ago being so annoyed when Bruce Springsteen played 10th Avenue Freezeout, NOT one of my favorites, and I had to just suffer through it for five minutes. Blah. The Black Eyed Peas were slightly reminiscent of Prince, who was one of the best half time shows ever (in the rain no less) so they were definitely operating out of the "Make Kathleen Happy Playbook".

The only thing that could have made the show better? A monkey.

Well played, Black Eyed Peas!

Second Half:

E*Trade, "Talking Baby"

Video courtesy of ZPsBackUp.

Boy this has been a polarizing ad campaign. Ever since it was first introduced a few years back, people either love or hate these "talking" babies. Personally I'm a fan, which is odd because typically posed babies freak me out (Exhibit A. I'm sorry but just because you can stuff your baby into a watering can doesn't mean you should.) Anyway, despite this aversion to the use of babies, these ads really make me giggle. This one in particular was completely adorable at the end when the baby puts his finger to the tailor's mouth and says, "Shush." Love it!

House M.D., Fox - Best Commercial of the Second Half

Video courtesy of MsHousefan1.

Now, I divorced House last season. I'd watch every week and get annoyed at every single character. Finally, I told Husband that I had gotten to the point where the only character on the show I actually liked was House...and that made me feel really rotten about myself...so I wasn't going to watch anymore. This commercial though, was freakin' funny. A parody of the famous Mean Joe Green commercial from the late 1970s, House first refuses a churro from a young admirer then tosses his cane to the boy...knocking him over. Oh House, good work: take something we all know and love and give it the old "switch-a-roo". It's almost enough to convince me to start watching again!


Most Random (i.e. Awesome) Celebrity Cameo of the Night: Kenny G in Audi ad

If you know anything about me, you know that I love a good random celebrity cameo. I'm not talking about Adrian Brody in a Stella Artois ad. Or even Justin Bieber in a Best Buy ad. I'm talking about a 100% completely out of left field, random-ass celebrity. One of my favorite Super Bowl commercials EVER is this Emerald Nuts spot featuring Robert Goulet. This Audi ad had potential. Watching the two wealthy prisoners try to escape was pretty funny, but it could have been an ad for anything, nothing about it was specific to an Audi car. The Kenny G music was an unexpected choice, but the man himself serenading a prisoner at the end of the ad was the best moment. Sadly, afterwards I thought about how I should consider buying a Kenny G CD not an Audi car. Better luck next year, Audi.

WTF Moment: Eminem in Lipton Brisk Iced Tea ad and Chrysler ad

In the Brisk Iced Tea ad, which aired first, Eminem (in voice over) talks about getting asked to do so many ads, but then he ends up hating the product and refuses, but he really loves Lipton Brisk Iced Tea so he was happy to do the ad. Then during the third quarter, Eminem showed up in an ad for Chrysler automobiles.

Um, Eminem, not to be a brat, but did you tell the Lipton folks that you had actually agreed to do another commercial FOR THE SUPER BOWL? If I were the Lipton people, I'd be pretty annoyed! Do you think we're that stupid? That we forget that you're in two Super Bowl ads, one of which is claiming that you don't do lots of ads. Did you assume that because you're animated in one somehow we wouldn't realize it was you? Both of the ads were actually pretty good, but all I'm saying is you've got some 'xplaining to do, Eminem!

Worst Campaign of the Night: Pepsi Max

I'm not entirely sure why the folks over at Pepsi thought it would be funny to build an entire marketing campaign around people using Pepsi Max cans to assault each other, but I was not amused. In the first slot,  a woman throws her can at her husband after he checks out an attractive runner. He ducks and the runner gets knocked out. In the second ad, a nerd uses a Pepsi Max cooler launcher to shoot cans at the groin of a man who had previously been teasing him. The point of the first two commercials was to emphasize that Pepsi Max has no calories, but I'm sure there are ways to make that point beyond throwing cans at people.* Clearly, Pepsi Max felt the same way because the third ad abandoned the idea completely: this time featuring a couple on a first date with the young man's desire to sleep with his companion is interrupted only by his wanting her can of Pepsi Max. All I can say is that at least the first two ads had a semblance of a point. Complete miss, Pepsi Max. Try again next year (if you're even still around).

*Lest any of you think me a hypocrite, allow me to distinguish between why I found the Pepsi Max commercials upsetting, yet enjoyed the House commercial where he throws his cane at the young child. In the House commercial, House isn't trying to hit the kid with the cane. He's trying to be inspirational and toss the young admirer a souvenir. That, in addition to the familiarity we all have with the original commercial, is what makes this ad funny. The Pepsi Max ads are just mean.

The good news is that I made it through the entire game and that it ended before 10:30pm! The fourth quarter just flew by because I spent it scouring the Internet for the House ad. Usually the fourth quarter just crawls by so that was exciting!

Congratulations to the Green Bay Packers for winning the 45th Super Bowl. Enjoy my kind words now, boys, because I can assure you that by this evening, I will have forgotten who was even playing.

What were your favorite commercials? Do you agree with my picks?

Happy Monday!

Queen Song of the Week: Crazy Little Thing Called Love

Apologies for the lateness of today's Queen Song of the Week post. Husband and I had to attend a seminar last night and didn't get home until after 9pm! Unacceptable!

We're still working our way through the set list of Queen's 1982 concert at the Milton Keynes Bowl. That show has been released on CD and DVD as Queen: On Fire at the Bowl.

Now, I'm about to blow everyone's mind: the song Crazy Little Thing Called Love was not written or originally performed by Elvis Presley. Nor was it written by Dwight Yoakam or any other artist who has subsequently recorded the song.

Crazy Little Thing Called Love was written by Freddie Mercury...in his bathtub! The song appeared on the band's 1979 album, The Game. It was released as a single in 1979 where it peaked at #2 in the U.K. and #1 in the U.S. The song was the band's first #1 song in the U.S. and is their fourth best selling single of all time.


As the boys recall, the song came together rather quickly. Freddie wrote it while in the bath and the background vocals were recorded in less than 30 minutes! Another notable fact about the song is that Dr. May does not play his famous Red Special guitar. In fact, he uses a Telecaster owned by RT in order to add to the "period" feel of the song. And of course, the visual aspect of Freddie playing acoustic guitar on this song is  rather famous for Queen fans and non-Queen fans alike!

This is a song that sounds nothing like Queen yet still somehow sounds like Queen: the vocals are immediately recognizable and, even using a different guitar, Dr. May has a distinctive style and, of course, the band's trademark background vocals are used here.

Often I forget about this song, but then after hearing it again, I'm reminded of how catchy and infectious it is! And obviously Fred did a great job of capturing the era he was going for since so many people thing the song is about thirty years older than it actually is! Well done, Freddie!

Happy Listening!

Magic Carpet Ride: Goodbye Old Rug!

I've basically come to the conclusion that Pottery Barn hates me.

Which is disappointing because I love Pottery Barn.

I love flipping through their catalog and imagining that I too could live in a world where my tables were filled with knickknacks and candles and yet still not look cluttered; where my office was somehow immaculately neat and all my bills were tucked away in their filing cabinets and my appointments were legibly written on a wall calendar; where a personalized tree skirt would sit around my Christmas tree, decorated only in silver, and matching personalized stockings lined with mantle without falling over.

*Sigh*

Since I basically adore everything Pottery Barn has to offer, it's always an exciting experience when I have permission an opportunity to buy something. My first major purchase came in January 2009. We had just bought our house and Husband had purchased a new 50 inch flat screen TV. The deal was: he got the TV and I got to furnish the rest of the living room. Enter the Payton Smart Technology Media and Gaming Console and the Brooks Upholstered Chair in an awesome red and white paisley-esque fabric...

which was promptly discontinued the instant I decided that I wanted two for our living room.

Luckily we located them in like Oklahoma (and paid a discounted price) and just weeks later, they were on display in our living room.

When the time came to replace the lamps in the same room (after Husband broke one of my beloved Milk Glass Table Lamps in espresso). I knew just the ones I wanted: the Fairview Table Lamp Base and coordinating floor lamp.

My local store, of course, did not have them in stock, but luckily a nearby store did. So off went my mother and I to conduct a merchandise pick-up near the dumpsters behind Ruby Tuesdays. We were convinced that death, not lamp bases, was in our future as it was dark outside and to our horror, another car pulled into the driveway behind us.

Clearly this individual trolled the mall, waiting for unsuspecting ladies with visions of lamps to attempt to acquire the aforementioned lamps, and choosing that moment to pounce.

It turns out this individual just happened to be buying something from Pottery Barn as well. Nice cover, buddy. I know what you were up to!

(We did ultimately get the lamp bases and managed to escape the darkened driveway unharmed.)

The final blow was a few weekends ago. I had accumulated a series of discount and rewards cards and even more exciting had secured clearance from Husband to buy a new living room rug (so our rug would be racist no more). At the store, I confirmed what I had suspected for weeks: that the Emerson Rug would be perfect! And the Large Mica Tapered Drum Lampshade in Champagne would be lovely on the Fairview Lamp Bases.

But, of course, since I was interested in them, they both ceased to exist.

Luckily, as sparse as the inventory at Pottery Barn sometimes it, it's customer service always impresses me. A sales associate at my local store, who had been given permission to go on break after helping me, spent nearly forty minutes helping me track down the lamp shade and the Emerson Rug at a nearby store. One phone call later and the rug was en route to my doorstep!

Remember my racist rug?

Well last week, Husband and I unceremoniously rolled it up to make room for the lovely new Emerson Rug. Because I realized that I never actually posted pictures of the rug (for fear of backlash! Remember folks, I didn't design or even buy this thing!), I snapped a few upon realizing that this might be the last time I ever laid eyes on the rug.

Here are two of the gentlemen depicted on the rug. And readers, trust me when I say that these aren't even the worst offenders. One was so bad that Husband actually refused to allow me to take a photo if I intended to post it here!

Well it only took two years, but our living room is finally completely decorated. With the exception of the couch, which was a hand-me-down, and the coffee table, which is from Macy's, I've managed to make a dream of living in a Pottery Barn catalog a reality!

Here's the finished room.

I'm particularly pleased with the pattern mixing of the Brooks Chairs, Emerson Rug, and my handmade (by me!) decorative throw pillow.

So one room down.

Like ten to go!

A Query: Celebrity Encounters

Husband and I recently had an interesting conversation about celebrity encounters. Ultimately we were left in complete disagreement so I'm curious to open the question up to a wider audience.

A while back we had the opportunity to attend a comedy performance by Tom Wilson. I'd be willing to bet that every single one of you knows who Tom Wilson is, but I'd also be willing to bet that most of you know him not as Tom Wilson, but rather as "Biff" from the Back to the Future trilogy.

Tom Wilson in Back to the Future, Part II and Tom Wilson now.

Now I've made no secret of my love of the Back to the Future trilogy: three entire movies about time travel? Sign me up! But I've also always been a person who enjoys the villains more than the protagonist hero (i.e. my love of Alan Rickman and Tim Curry, who somehow manage to make even the most despicable villain likeable) so Biff really is my favorite character in the Back to the Future movies. I always think of what fun it must have been for Tom Wilson to dress up in all the costumes for various time periods and makeup for various ages and then just go around picking on everyone.

Lest anyone think that we only appreciate Tom Wilson for his role in Back to the Future, let me assure you that's not the case. We loved his role as the gym teacher in Freaks and Geeks, he had a guest role on Psych last season, and he's currently in the middle of a several episode stint on Big Love. The guy's really a pretty good actor and every time he shows up on screen somewhere, we're pleasantly surprised.

But anyway, back to the point. Husband and I attended Tom Wilson's comedy show. Husband was particularly excited as he'd just received the Back to the Future trilogy in blu ray and thought perhaps he'd ask Mr. Wilson to sign it.

Once we arrived at the show, however, our friends informed us that they'd done a little research on Mr. Wilson (okay that makes me think of Dennis the Menace) and discovered that he was trying to separate himself from his Back to the Future persona and that he had made a conscious and public decision to not sign any Back to the Future memorabilia.

The show began and less than five minutes into it, Tom addressed this issue. He said that he was going to just put all the Back to the Future stuff out there and then he was moving on. So he said the lines: "Hey, McFly!"; "Hello? (knocking on an audience member's head); "Butthead!" and then he picked up a guitar to sing a song that he had written about his decision. Here's a similar version that he's performed before:

Video courtesy of TomWilsonUSA.

At the end of the song, he did just what he promised: he moved on to the rest of his routine. And guys? He was totally freakin' funny! We were in stitches the entire performance! He sang, he told hysterical stories, and he ad libbed with audience members. Husband and I (and two friends) all agreed that he was genuinely entertaining and we were glad that we'd come to the show.

Now here is where Husband and I have differing opinions (and for the sake of not getting biased feedback, I'm not going to say which one of us had which opinion. Tricky, eh?)

Opinion A: Tom Wilson is totally entitled to not want to sign Back to the Future stuff. That was from 20+ years ago and he's done other work since then, which we've enjoyed (television, movies, and, now, stand-up). He realizes that many people are coming to see him because of his Back to the Future connection so he addresses it upfront in a humorous way and then does his real routine. Would it be great if he went around quoting lines from the movie nonstop and "calling people Butthead on their answering machines" (per his song)? Sure, but he's also a person and that probably gets really old.

Opinion B: Tom Wilson is famous because he played "Biff" in Back to the Future. If he had decided to leave show business entirely, he would be completely justified in being annoyed if people continue to bring it up. However, he stayed in show business and is counting on people recognizing his name and his image to come see his shows. He should not only accept that recognition but embrace the fact that people are coming to see him now because he was Biff in Back to the Future and sign whatever people present to him. Otherwise people wouldn't care.

In the end, Husband decided not to wait in line to meet Tom. No doubt that was partly due to the fact that he didn't trust me to not squeal, "I love you, Biff!" I tried to convince him to go have his own "Brian May moment", but he lamented that no celebrity would ever be as gracious and wonderful as Brian May had been so he would surely be disappointed.

I agreed that the "Brian May standard" is all but insurmountable and off we went to dinner.

Now, in all fairness to Tom Wilson, he's surely not the only celebrity who struggles to get past such a recognizable role and character. He just happens to be the celebrity that prompted the discussion between Husband and I.

For example, here's a video compilation of a guest appearance that Brent Spiner did on the short-lived television show "Joey".

Video courtesy of digikotw.

I particularly like this example because not only is the actual clip about Mr. Spiner trying to distance himself from his role as the beloved Data, but subsequently Matt LeBlanc is in a similar predicament with his character Joey.

By appearing as himself in this episode, Mr. Spiner seems to be taking an approach similar to Tom Wilson: poking fun at himself and the character, but hoping that fans understand that there is some truth behind every joke. Interestingly enough, most of Mr. Spiner's recent movie roles have also been science fiction themed (most notably in Independence Day and Superhero Movie). I'll say this: he's definitely got the role of the slightly crazy scientist down cold.

However, the Star Trek genre is a beast of its own and for Mr. Spiner the role of Data, while more than twenty years old, continues to be lucrative for him so long as he makes appearances at Star Trek conventions across the world. Or by guest staring on the best episode ever of Family Guy with the entire cast of Star Trek: The Next Generation.

Matt LeBlanc, on the other hand, completely embraced the role of Joey, following the ten year run of Friends, by agreeing to star in a spin-off. Of course, this show ended years ago and I'm unsure how Mr. LeBlanc has handled the role of Joey since, but it's safe to say that the role of Joey remains his most recognizable character.

And then there's my botched encounter with Andrew McCarthy from way back in 1999. Perhaps there's no one role or movie that Mr. McCarthy is best known for, but he is remembered as part of the 80s ensemble "the Brat Pack" and the numerous teenage angst-ridden movies in which they starred. I so gushed and fawned over Mr. McCarthy and his roles in movies such as Pretty in Pink, St. Elmo's Fire, and Mannequin (yes, Mannequin), that he thought I was kidding and gave me a really nasty look and moved on to the next fan.

I really wasn't kidding, Mr. McCarthy. Seriously.

So is Tom Wilson justified in not signing Back to the Future memorabilia? Should he just be glad that people still care who he is and leave it at that? Or is he entitled to decide that he wants to move on both personally and professionally and fans should have to go along with that? (And again, this question applies not just to Tom Wilson, but to all celebrities who are best known for a single role or series of roles from a long time ago.)

I'm interested to hear thoughts...

Queen Song of the Week: Fat Bottomed Girls

So this week I'm in a bit of a quandary: every song featured from here on out in Queen's set list of their 1982 Milton Keynes show is a well-known single. And many have already been featured as Queen Songs of the Week.

What's a girl to do?

I had anticipated this when I first decided to feature the set list of this concert, but that was like three months ago and I wasn't prepared to actually acknowledge that at some point the future would get here.

But it's here. Drat.

The songs I haven't featured are actually scattered rather nicely throughout the rest of the set list so I think what I'm going to do is just skip through to the next new song and provide links to the songs already featured. Make sense?

So after the guitar solo, the band played Under Pressure: one of my favorite live songs by the band for reasons I've already discussed in detail here.

Now, I've referred to Fat Bottomed Girls a few times on this blog (specifically here and here), but I've never featured the song so let's get to it.

Fat Bottomed Girls was written by Dr. May and appeared on the band's 1978 album Jazz. The song was released as the Double-A side of a single (along with Bicycle Race) in 1978, peaking at #11 and #24 on the U.K. and U.S., respectively.


Though RT sings background vocals onstage, he doesn't sing on the studio version: Dr. May and Freddie Mercury perform all the background vocals. The rest of the song itself is pretty simple although there is a bit of a tricky drum beat that took me weeks to figure out on Rock Band! Oooh that RT!

Performed live, this song was always a crowd favorite and was one of only two songs off the Jazz album that the band played into the 80s.

This song always makes me smile because without fail while on a run and facing a particular massive hill, my iPhone would shuffle to this song. It always made me giggle and made the hill seem less daunting.

Happy Listening!

tarte Amazonian Clay Waterproof Cream Shadow Pot with Brush Review

My obsession with cream eye shadows continues. I originally started experimenting with cream eye shadow when I purchased Smashbox Cream Shadow Liner in Starstruck for $5 at Sephora! The product is mislabled on the website as Jet Set Eyeliner, but it is definitely the cream shadow liner. I immediately loved it and began wearing it at least once a week to work in combination with a variety of different eye liners.

Back in November, I spotted tarte Amazonian Clay Waterproof Cream Shadow Pot with Brush on QVC. I was intrigued and added it to my Christmas list. My sister-in-law purchased it for me in Slate and I finally received it when we celebrated our late Christmas a few weeks back.

Since then, I've worn this shadow several times, including to my first session with my new psychologist. Let me just say this: they aren't kidding when they say "waterproof". Once this stuff is on, it's on until I remove it at the end of the day with my philosophy Purity Made Simple cleanser.

Here I am wearing only the tarte eye shadow.

As you can see, the Slate color is actually more of a bronze-gold, which I love. My favorite powder eye shadow is Clinique's Colour Surge Eye Shadow Super Shimmer in Rum Spice and this tarte shadow is the perfect cream counterpart to that lovely shade.

According to the tarte website, their "high-performance natural™ Amazonian clay is nature's most perfect ingredient, lending deep color pigments while nourishing skin, reducing surface oil and improving overall texture for smooth application."

I have to admit, that they're description of what the Amazonian clay accomplishes is pretty accurate. This product reminds me of a talc in that it goes on creamy and then dries enough that it doesn't smear. However, it also manages to not dry out so much that my eyelids get cracked or dry.

The brush is great and part of the reason why I wanted this specific product. Up until receiving this brush, I'd been having difficulty applying the cream shadow to only my eyelid. No matter what I did with the prior brush, I'd end up with cream shadow in my crease and creeping up towards my eyebrow. Not flattering. I do wash my brush after every use so the cream shadow doesn't get the brush all crusty and clumpy.

Because I'm never one to be happy with wearing just eye shadow, here I am with my finished eye look.

Products and tools used:

Bare Escentuals Dark Brown shadow from Meet the Browns

bareMinerals Eye Defining Brush

Smashbox Jet Set Liner in Dark Brown

Smashbox Arced Eyeliner Brush #21

The lady at the Bare Escentuals store that I visited a few weeks ago showed me how to use a dark color in my crease and I'm so glad she did! I'm such a fan of this semi-smokey look! The already ridiculously cheap Meet the Browns kit was an additional 25% off during a Sephora promotion right around New Years and I just couldn't stop myself from picking up these three full sized brown shades!

And the Jet Set Liner is fast becoming one of my favorite eye liners ever: I clean my brush every day and make sure the cap is tightly closed and mine has lasted for months! I wish I could wear it on my inner rim like the models do, but unfortunately my gas permeable contacts make that rather uncomfortable.

Is it weird that I'm seriously considering Lasik surgery so that I can use a specific eye liner technique? 

My biggest complaint about the tarte cream shadow is that I can't find it available anywhere without the brush. I didn't mind the $22 price tag when a brush was included, but I don't want to have to rebuy the brush just to get the other shades! I couldn't even find the cream shadow available on the tarte website!

I'm hoping that means that the product was a QVC exclusive and it will start appearing elsewhere soon because I really would like to pick up a few additional colors of this cream shadow. I'm definitely a fan!

Happy Tuesday!

Happy Birthday Neil Diamond!

Today Neil Diamond is 70 years old! Happy Birthday, Neil!

Neil Diamond is my favorite solo musician. He's been writing songs since the 1960s and is still going strong, releasing his most recent album of original songs Home Before Dark in 2008. This past year he released Dreams, a collection of reinterpretations of his favorite songs by other artists.

Like Queen, part of Neil Diamond's appeal is his magnificent stage shows, complete with his famous sparkled shirts. I've been fortunate enough to see Neil Diamond in concert twice (once in 2001 at Madison Square Garden and once in 2008 at Fenway Park). I also squeezed my way to the front row of Neil's performance at NYU back in 2001 where I competed for his attention amongst a sea of approximately 400 women aged 50 and older. It was pretty amazing and I managed to get some awesome photographs (though I was too shy to take any while he was actually looking in my direction!).

If anyone is unfamiliar with Neil's songs, here are a few of my favorites for your consideration.

1) Hello, Again: Husband and I used this song as our first dance at our wedding reception. It's very simple and very sweet.

2) If You Know What I Mean: I'd never heard this song when I saw Neil in 2001, but when he played it at that show, I immediately loved it. I returned home and deduced which song it was by remembering a few of the lyrics. The studio version is just as powerful as the live version was (and I have to say I was rather disappointed when he didn't play this song in 2008).

3) Brother Love's Traveling Salvation Show: This song always reminds me of my dad. His favorite line is "Pack up the babies and grab the old ladies and everyone goes." The song has a mock-gospel feel to it, complete with Neil's own spoken sermon halfway through. Awesome!

4) The Story of My Life: One of my first favorite Neil Diamond songs. Figure skater Brian Orser skated to this song and I was instantly a fan.

5) I'm a Believer: Sure, this song has been covered a hundred times, most famously by the Monkees and Smash Mouth, but did you realize that Neil Diamond wrote it? He also wrote two other famous songs by the Monkees "A Little Bit Me, A Little Bit You" and "Look Out (Here Comes Tomorrow)". I was a Monkees fan as a little girl so Neil had a spot in my heart even back then!

In March, Neil Diamond will be inducted (finally) into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame! Congratulations in advance, Neil! And Happy Birthday!