From the Mundane to the Ridiculous

Global Warming at Your Service
This year the weather in western Massachusetts has been pretty incredible. Today the thermometer outside our kitchen window recorded 89 degrees. Brandon Butcher, our favorite local weatherman, said that the temperatures have not been so high since last August. In fact it felt like August weather except it wasn't as humid.

So the garden is coming back to life. This week two of our flowering trees started blooming. I tried to figure out when this usually happens and think it's at least two weeks earlier than usual.

Of course we can't really plant anything yet because until some time late in May, there is still the possibility of frost occurring.

We are in zone 5 which has temps down to -20 F in winter. It really doesn't get that cold (usually), so probably we would be 5a (or 5b, I can never remember) which gets down only to -10 F or so.

Anyway, it's pretty unusual to have it be so warm so early. And it makes it challenging to decide whether to work in the garden or the studio.

I figure that whichever one I pick, I'll probably be wishing to be in the other. But, hey, that's me all over.

Contender for World's Largest Brush Pile - home of birds, chipmunks, insects, snakes and God knows what-all.

The ravine and river down behind our yard, just starting to blush pink and green.

Global GaGa
So let me tell you what else I've been doing, I read a profile in New York magazine about Lady GaGa, and since I had never seen any of her videos, I looked her up on You Tube. Well, now I'm hooked and I have those songs running through my head.

She is the love child of Madonna and Elton John and remarkable for the speed of her fame and her daring attack on the pop music world at a mere age 24. The telephone video with Beyonce (9 1/2 minutes long) is pretty mind boggling in its intricacy as well as its themes. It's very entertaining. I find it interesting that she portrays herself as gay (or at least bi) when she is apparently straight. I guess that makes for more titillation.

She is certainly ready to try anything. She has a great team of stylists and a wonderful video director in Jonas Akerlund, who directed 12 videos for Madonna and has now done two for GaGa. The videos are full of product placement and brands - the route to today's success. Here's a link to the New York magazine GaGa Look Book. 

Still from the Telephone video. (Note the sunglasses made from lit cigarettes.)

Although some say her music is boring and not a match for the uniqueness of her appearance (or should I say styling), her songs are catchy. (Why else would they be rattling around in my brain interminably?) She has been playing piano since she was a young girl and has a much better voice than Madonna.

And just in case you wondered about her popularity:

"In a poll on Time's website, the public can vote on who they think the most influential people of 2010 are. Lady Gaga has skyrocketed from No. 54 to No.1. She is followed by Michelle Obama at 14, Snooki at 16, and Beyoncé, who is woefully underranked, at 19. Also underranked by these standards are Marc Jacobs at No. 99 and Anna Wintour at No. 122. [Time]"