Saturday 9

Saturday 9: Best Song Ever

Unfamiliar with this week's song? Hear it here. (This is their official video and it begins with a skit; music starts at 2:25.)

1) Dancing all night to the best song ever would be good for the cardiovascular system. When is the last time you exercised? Did 25 mins. on the treadmill and a few reps on some Nautilus machines just yesterday. So far I've managed to maintain that resolution of working out 3x/week.

2) The girl in this song is the daughter of a dentist. "Dentophobia" is fear of dentists. How do you feel about going to the dentist? It doesn't upset me.

3) One Direction performed this on Good Morning, America. Do you watch morning TV? If so, which show? Morning Joe on MSNBC. I like hearing both sides in an atmosphere that's friendly and respectful. Learning something is a good way to start the day.

4) Listening to upbeat pop songs like this one makes Sam feel young. When is the last time you participated in an activity commonly connected to childen (like swinging on a swing, drinking chocolate milk, playing a board game, etc.)? I just had a pudding cup yesterday.
 
5) One of the boys, Louis Tomlinson, was an actor before joining the band. How many different professions have you tried? What were they? I have been a receptionist, an admin, a telemarketer, a copywriter, a creative director and (now) an associate creative director.
 
6) The fans that have made One Direction millionaires are also the target audience for series like The Hunger Games, Harry Potter and Wimpy Kid. Do you read Young Adult literature? Nope. They seem to be in the sci fi/fantasy genre and that just doesn't float my boat.

7) If this is the "best song ever," what song do you consider the worst? Tell us which song just sets your teeth on edge. Just about everything by Barry Manilow. "Mandy," "Can't Smile Without You," "Copacabana" … shudder.

8) One Direction performed at the Royal Variety Show for Queen Elizabeth. If you found yourself presented to Her Majesty, what would you say? I'd probably be all tongue tied and overwhelmed by protocol. But if I could screw up the nerve, I'd ask her about the Helen Mirren movie.

9) Right now, is your life moving in the right direction or are you feeling a bit aimless? I do feel like I'm in a holding pattern now, waiting for something to happen.

The Fourth Estate Is Worth Preserving

Rachel Maddow wrote this terrific editorial, which I read -- actual newsprint on paper -- en route to work this morning. It's about the importance of local news coverage, and the timing could not be more appropriate.

Not just because it was local reporters who broke the current Chris Christie scandal. But because I'm looking at a bill right now from The Chicago Tribune.

It costs me nearly $400/year to get the Trib delivered Monday-Friday. I try to read it every morning when riding the el. But it's hard. The edition that's home delivered is still a big old broadsheet, which is difficult to maneuver on a crowded train -- especially when I'm surrounded by selfish space hogs who take more than one seat for their tote bags or backpacks.

But that's a superficial reason to give up an opportunity to be better informed about neighborhood and my world, and to support the institution that keeps the power brokers honest. As Ms Maddow writes:

It’s annoying to pay for information — I know. But if you don’t subscribe to your local paper or pony up to get behind its online paywall, who’s going to pay reporters to cover the news where you live? A free press isn’t that kind of “free.” An accountable democracy doesn’t work without real information, gathered from the ground up, about people in power, everywhere. Be inspired by the beleaguered but unintimidated reporters of Chris Christie’s New Jersey: Whatever your partisan affiliation, or lack thereof, subscribe to your local paper today. It’s an act of civic virtue.