A Trip Through California
Hello all! I took the last two weeks off from newsletter writing to travel across the country to California. It was my first trip West and now I'm ready to write about the many pop culture moments related to The Golden State:
Our first destination on the West Coast tour is northern CA, as we make our way through some famous San Francisco sites. While traveling, my family made stops at The Painted Ladies, which notably appear in the Full House theme song. We also went by the Tanner house, which had some very aggressive signs from neighbors asking tourists to keep quiet. We also couldn't resist a trip by the That's So Raven home. All of this travel, included trips up and down the streets of San Francisco, which gave me Princess Diaries flashbacks, as I kept my fingers crossed that we wouldn't plummet backwards down the steep streets into a trolley.
As we traveled through Napa and Sonoma, my Parent Trap wine country dreams finally came true. We didn't make it to Nick Parker's vineyard, but I did have visions of riding horses through the fields, as I wore my Lohan-inspired blue nail polish and jean jacket look at our other vineyard stops.
Unfortunately, our family vacation only included stops in northern California, so I have to rely on TV and movies to fill in my knowledge gaps about the rest of the state. The former USA series Psych is set in Santa Barbra. In the show's musical episode, Shawn kicks things off with a song dedicated to his hometown.
In the penultimate episode of Gilmore Girl's third season, troubled Jess Mariano departs Stars Hollow for Venice Beach, CA. It was supposed to be a backdoor pilot for a Jess-centric spin-off that never received a series order, which makes it a clunky almost-end to the season. It's not the most flattering Jess (that will come in season six), but we do get to see him walking across the beach in an angsty all-black look for no apparent reason.
There are about a million examples of Los Angeles in movies and TV shows, but I'll focus on La La Land specifically for this one, as it pretty much covers everything -- the magic of Hollywood, classic sites and spontaneous song and dance, which I cannot resist. When I first saw the movie in theaters with my brother, we both sat there mesmerized by the entire film. I remember watching the A Lovely Night number, and as the camera panned out on Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling's dance number (all shot in one take with no cuts or dance doubles), I was completely consumed by the film's beauty.
The list wouldn't be complete without a final stop in Orange County. I'd be lying if I said I didn't blast The O.C.'s theme song as we crossed into CA for the first time. California, by Phantom Planet, was the perfect fit for the moment. It also fit the show's theme well, as new kid Ryan arrives in town to live with the Cohens and drama ensues.
Haven't You Heard?
This past weekend, I traveled to New Jersey to see Taylor Swift's reputation Tour, which was playing three nights at MetLife Stadium. As a Taylor fan, I expected to enjoy the experience, despite the rainy Saturday weather, but I was completely floored by the show that she put on for her audience of screaming fans. From the opening notes of Ready for It, her opener, I felt chills run down my arms, as the entire stadium lit up in color. Before entering the concert, attendees were given bracelets ("A gift from Taylor!!", one of the employees excitedly told us), which lit up throughout the concert, according to your section and to the song TSwift played. As she appeared onstage, you could see the bracelets light up throughout the football stadium, and you knew this was going to be quite the spectacle. The energy didn't drop from there, as she worked her way through her entire reputation album (minus my least favorite song, So It Goes, which played as attendees rushed out of the rain and back to their cars), and highlights from her past albums, often played in fun mash-ups. As the rain came pouring down (yes, she surprised us all by singing Clean, which isn't normally in her set), Taylor grew giddier and giddier throughout the show, marveling at all of us dancing in the rain and the fact that we could still hear her guitar, even though it was soaked. She effortlessly switched from choreographed pop hits, to acoustic songs on her guitar (including Fearless, because she "danced in a storm in her best dress"), to numbers done on stages in the middle of the audience, to piano ballads and back to choreographed dances for the big finish. It was an amazing performance and demonstrates the distinct vision Taylor has for her music and the ability she has to constantly transform herself and bring it all to life for her fans, whom she thanked profusely throughout the two-hour show. If you have a chance to go see the tour, I highly recommend it. In the end, haters are going to hate, but Taylor will always get the last word.
Required Reading
I haven't seen the new FX show Pose yet, but after reading this incredibly insightful Vulture article about Janet Mock, who is a writer, director and producer on the series, I'm even more excited to tune in. As the first trans woman of color to direct an episode of TV, Janet made history on the show, which also notably features five trans women of color in leading roles. In the piece, Janet speaks about the origins of the series and the importance of challenging Ryan Murphy, who co-created Pose, in the writers room. It's an honest look at the real impact diversity in the writer's room can have on the tone, character arcs and storylines that land on air. In addition to her work on Pose, Janet is adapting her book, Redefining Realness, into a movie and is in the process of creating her own show, Passing.
