Pheaturing Natania

Hello, and welcome to the Phile for a Sunday. A lot of stuff is happening in Florida today, kids. There's the Princess Marathon at Disney and the Daytona 500 in Daytona. I bet a Kenyan won't win any of them.  So, I was thinking... the Pope quit, a meteor fell in Russia, an asteroid passed close to Earth, it's snowing in Arizona, Star Wars and Star Trek have the same director... who the hell is playing Jumanji?!  You gotta love politicians. Former Senator Pete Domenici of New Mexico revealed that while in office he fathered a child with the daughter of another senator, who was a friend of his. He cheated on his wife with the daughter of another senator and they had a baby. When did the Senate become "The Jerry Springer Show"? Domenici is defending himself by saying that he is no better or worse than the next guy. And he’s right, because you know who the next guy was? John Edwards.  The former San Diego mayor, Maureen O'Connor, told federal prosecutors she went broke after gambling away more than a billion dollars she inherited from her late husband at casinos playing video poker. But to be fair, at one point, she was up 300 bucks.  Former Chicago Congressman Jesse Jackson, Jr. pled guilty to misusing hundreds of thousands of dollars of campaign funds for personal use, including buying a $43,000 Rolex watch. How ironic is that? All that money on a watch, and now he's going to wind up doing time.  Only four more days with this Pope, kids. They're going to miss Pope Benedict. He's very underrated. This is the guy who wanted to replace Communion wafers with unlimited bread sticks. They're looking for a new Pope. Each candidate will get a week's tryout with Kelly Ripa.  A woman called 911 because she ran out of cigarettes. You don't see me calling 911 because I run out of jokes, do you? Not anymore, anyway.  The Bulgarian prime minister, Boyko Borisov, stepped down. He's stepping down like the Pope, but with a funnier name and a smaller hat. I'm not sure who'll replace Boyko Borisov. My money's on Ashton Kutcher.  Any Led Zeppelin fans out there? I am sure you are. Robert Plant told Australia's version of "60 Minutes" that he'd be willing to reform Led Zeppelin. When I heard this, I said, "What? Australia has a ‘60 Minutes?’"  A woman in New York has been arrested for hiring strippers to perform at her son's 16th birthday party. Even Dina and Michael Lohan were like, "That's a really bad parenting choice."  Florida Atlantic University announced a new corporate sponsor for their football stadium. It happens to be America's second largest operator of for-profit prisons. I guess they figured a lot of the athletes end up in prison anyway. The school, Florida Atlantic University, says very little will change. The only change they're making is that hot dogs will now go for two packs of cigarettes.  In November, Colorado voted to legalize the recreational use of marijuana. Currently, only Colorado residents can purchase marijuana in the state. But they may open it up to nonresidents too. The new state slogan is "Come for the legal marijuana, stay because you forgot to leave."  Well, today is the Oscars, in case you didn't know. I guess to appeal to a younger audience, this year's Academy Awards are just being referred to as the Oscars. And to appeal to an even younger audience, they're spelling Oscars with a "z"... and backwards in crayon. Folks are excited about the Academy Awards on Sunday. Ann Hathaway will probably win. She's won so many awards she's being tested for banned substances. Lindsay Lohan is having an Academy Awards party. Here's how it will go. Any time someone opens an envelope, or any time during the telecast they run a commercial, or any time the audience applauds or sits quietly, Lindsay will do a shot. Have you seen a movie out there called Zero Dark Thirty? It's about the hunt for Osama bin Laden and his wife Mary Todd bin Laden. Steven Spielberg's Lincoln received 12 nominations. I really think Lincoln has a shot.  There's an interesting contest going on in the best actress category. Both the youngest and oldest actresses are competing. The one is only 9, which makes your kid's performance as tree number two in the school play seem a little less impressive, right?  Did you know the movie Lincoln originally had a different name? Here is the original movie poster for it.

Another thing that is happening today that I already mentioned is the Daytona 500. Yesterday in Daytona there was a big crash that sent some spectators to the hospital. Looking at footage of the crash I see what happened. Here's a screen shot.

LOL. That's so dumb. I don't even though if that's a picture from the crash that happened yesterday. I'm sure I will hear from somebody about it. Anyway, in Daytona they are selling an inspirational poster,which I don't think will help NASCAR's image.

I have never been into NASCAR, but when I saw who is racing this year, I have to admit, I got a little
interested.

Danica Patrick has the first pole position, which I don't know about you, but it sounds kinda hot.  Speaking of what I think is hot, there's only two days of the campaign to get Kelly Clarkson on the Phile left. So, spread this campaign poster around.

Okay, it's Oscar day, and all through February I have been giving you some Oscar trivia you can use at your Oscar party. So, here for the last time is...

Alright, I have two facts for you today. The first is Oscars' statuette were made of plaster during the WW II.  Because metal was scarce during the war, from 1942 until the end of World War II, Oscars were made out of plaster to conserve metal. After the war, the winners received "real" replacement statues. The second fact is Oscar Hammerstein II is the only Oscar winner named Oscar. Hammerstein won two Oscars for best original song... in 1941 for "The Last Time I Saw Paris" in the film Lady Be Good, and in 1945 for "It Might as Well Be Spring" in State Fair. There you go, enjoy the Oscars, people.


Talking of movies, a friend of the Phile wanted to come on and talk about a movie she recently watched. She shoots from the hip, heart, camera, gun, sling-shot, tank... please welcome back to the Phile... Debbie Boldacious.

This weekend I'll be mostly completely bummed out and disappointed that I'm not waking up next to 1980-90s John Cusack. Today I learned something: The high school skiing jock prick that is Roy Stalin, from THE AMAZING 80s movie classic Better Off Dead (not just a classic because of THE VH Burger scene), that actor went on to be the head coach for the Boston College ACC Ski Team!! HAHAHA, I hope he wasn't much of an actor, and that was his personality. K-12 anyone? And no, he was not Stan Gable from Revenge Of The Nerds. For more MIND BLOWING teachings, stay tuned... haha!

Debbie Boldacious, everybody. Thanks, Debbie.

 

Okay, today's pheatured guest is a singer songwriter from India whose CD "Hope & Heartbreak" is available on iTunes right now. Please welcome to the Phile... Natania.

Me: Hello, Natania, welcome to the Phile. How are you?

Natania: Hello! Thank you for having me. It’s been raining in LA, which means I am fantastic!

Me: That's a very interesting name, Natania, does it have a meaning?

Natania: Yes! It means “A gift from God”, it’s actually Hebrew.

Me: My name, Jason, means sexual healer. Anyway, I think it does. So, where are you from from, Nat? India I believe, right? I can call you Nat, right?

Natania: Sexual Healer!? That’s amazing. I actually think Jason is Hebrew origin too isn’t it? I am from Mumbai, India. Okay, but only if I get to call you J?

Me: Sure, you can call me J. I don't know if Jason is Hebrew... I think it's Greek. Actually, it stands for July, August, September, October and November. Anyway, where do you live now?

Natania: I’m living in Los Angeles.

Me: When did you move from India to American and how old were you?

Natania: I moved here about 3 years ago, when I was seventeen.

Me: Is your family back in India?

Natania: Yes, but my brother lives in New York so I get to see him more, which is nice.

Me: When you first decided to move here how did you tell your parents and what did they say?

Natania: Gosh! I think at first they didn’t take it seriously but I think when they saw how sure I was they were so supportive.

Me: What's the first thing you did here in America?

Natania: When I first got here in 2010 I was on the East coast and I had been there plenty of times before but I had never been to Los Angeles, so when I got to LA a friend picked me up from the airport and I had my first Chipotle experience. It was amazing!

Me: You went to Berklee in Boston, am I right?

Natania: Yes! I just attended the summer program there before I moved to LA to attend Musicians Institute, but it was such an amazing experience!

Me: What did you study there?

Natania: I studied voice and some songwriting while I was there!

Me: How long have you been songwriting, Nat?

Natania: Since I picked up my guitar at 15 along with my first heartbreak.

Me: And how long have you been playing guitar?

Natania: For about 5 years now! It’s become my best friend; we hang out every single day!

Me: Okay, let's talk about your EP "Hope & Heartbreak". Where did that title come from? Have you had much heartbreak in your life?

Natania: Most of my songs are about love and I was thinking about the parts and bits of love when I realized there were only two big parts, you’re either hopeful or heartbroken, so I decided to call the EP that! I’ve been hopeful and heartbroken. It’s my optimism that gets me in trouble sometimes, haha.

Me: Did you write all the songs on the EP?

Natania: Yes I did!

Me: It's a very upbeat and fun EP, Nat. I like it a lot. I love your smokey voice; it's very Norah Jonesish. Are you a fan of hers?

Natania: Thanks, J! I’m so happy you like it. I love Norah Jones,she has such a cool vibe to her (and she’s half Indian, which makes her awesome.)

Me: Who are you influenced by?

Natania: Ingrid Michaelson, Gavin Degraw, Sara Bareilles, Tyler Hilton... The list goes on and on!

Me: So, is that your natural singing voice or do you smoke to get that voice?

Natania: Haha! It’s very much natural.

Me: I have to ask you about the lyric to the song "Cherry Love". You sing, "when you tie your stem I come undone." I'm a songwriter now myself and thought those were interesting lyrics. What do they mean?

Natania: They say you’re a great kisser when you can tie a cherry stem with your tongue you know.

Me: And what is cherry love?

Natania: Cherry love is that love you’re so reckless with. You just fall and enjoy it in the moment. It’s that first stage with the flirting and butterflies and wondering if he’s feeling the exact same way you are. It’s magic. It’s a red kind of love.

Me: I like the artwork for the EP, did you do that yourself?

Natania: Thank you! I came up with the idea and a great designer Lucas Tuttle designed it for me.

Me: Did you do the video for "Cherry Love" as well? I have a screen shot of it here.

Natania: I came up with the storyboard for the video and another great guy Matt Schneck brought it to life.

Me: So, are you working on another EP, or full length?

Natania: I’m planning to release another EP this year! So excited about it, already trying to pick songs.

Me: Alright, so, on the Phile I ask random questions, Nat. Here is yours and is completely random thanks to the card game Tabletopics... what change would you most like to make for your health? 

Natania: Ooooh this is fun, take more vitamin C! I’m always catching the flu when it’s around!

Me: Nat, thanks so much for being on the Phile, and please come back again soon. Go ahead and mention your website and everything.

Natania: Thank you so much for having me! You can check me out at NataniaMusic.com. You can follow me on Twitter and Facebook at @NataniaMusic. Hope & Hearbreak is now available on iTunes!

Me: Take care, and thanks again. I hope this was fun. All the best.

Natania: Thanks, J! It was such a pleasure chatting with you. Let’s do it again soon :)

Me: We sure will. Thanks, Nat.

There you go, that about does it for this entry. Thanks to Debbie Boldacious and of course Natania. Okay, the Phile will be back tomorrow with Phile Alum Kim Edwards. Then next Friday the Phile starts "The Great Space Coaster" Month with another Phile Alum... Robert A. Medeiros from The Clarences. So, spread the word, not the turd. Don't let snakes and alligators bite you. Bye, love you, bye. Strawberry Blondes Forever!