kcrouch

This was my introduction to the discipline of Pilates. I found it to be excellent in that it encourages the beginner with complete continuous instruction which is leavened with humor and full explanations. The format using a student is doubly good for those who are just starting, making them have a sense that they can work up to the proficiency level of the instructor. Ana Caban is warm, insightful and clear. This is the DVD that I recommend to anyone who really wants to get into this challenging form of self-improvement.

Just like New Year's resolutions, decisions about exercising are hard to maintain. I think that people who begin this regimen by watching and then following Ana and her student Tara will find that they are inspired to stay with it.

Mad Men is captivating, both as drama and as an almost scientific examination of the 60's. It touches on so many aspects of life and culture and does so at a dramatic pace which is great viewing. It reminds me of the Broadway play Promises, Promises which was based on The Apartment. Like the musical, Mad Men fairly bristles with energy and what passed for hipness at the time. Casual conversation, byplay between the sexes, exploitation and competition--it's all there and it is eye-fillingly presented. Little vignettes are tossed in like throw-away lines and they, too, are telling. I love the way that characters are developed. Many layers are gradually peeled away, and in the doing these people become more interesting and human. Those of us who lived in this time frame may even learn things about ourselves.

The concept is simple. A cartoon Jimmy Carter is the visual of Ray Charles' voice singing "Georgia." It's all there in excruciating detail--the syrupy smile, the tears of sentimentality. It is laugh out loud funny and you just wish it were longer. The song by itself is wonderful just as straight audio. But the fun with using Jimmy Carter as a foil doesn't take anything from that. It's the gut punch of juxtaposition that makes it work so well. It has been years since I first saw the little gem, yet it remains as vivid as if it were yesterday. I would love to own it, just so that I could play it again like a favorite song.