Give Credit Where Credit Is Due, or Get Right

I recently picked up Twenty Five, the latest Greatest Hits CD from George Michael. Last night I was listening to it in my car and it’s pretty funny to me that almost 25 years after I first heard it, I still love “Everything She Wants”. I mean, yeah “Careless Whisper” is always great and “Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go” is still an infectious piece of pop, but “Everything She Wants” was my favorite Wham song then and it still is now. I think that most people don’t pay that song enough attention. It’s really good, and be honest, singing along with Andrew Ridgley’s aaah aaah aaahs is fun. So in the spirit of “Everything She Wants”, here’s a salute to some unappreciated gems.


· Chazz Palminteri – This man is a great actor. Why doesn’t he get work like DeNiro or Pacino? Although these days, none of them seem to be getting anything stellar. I know he did those cheesy Vanilla Coke commercials, but he is a really fine actor. I mean, have you seen The Usual Suspects? Bullets Over Broadway? Or my favorite, A Bronx Tale? That is one of my favorite movies and he is the main reason why. Did you know that he adapted that movie? From his own play? That he performs as a one-man piece? Based on his own life? That is impressive to me. I think this man is highly underrated and that’s a shame.
· Basic cable – I pay for pretty much every cable channel, but with the slumping economy that may have to change soon. So it’s nice to know that there is so much to watch on the non-premium channels. It’s funny; I watch those channels so much more than the movie channels I pay extra for. Some of my favorite programs are on “basic” cable. There is nothing on Showtime or HBO that I enjoy more than Project Runway (Bravo), House Hunters (HGTV), Iron Chef America (Food Network), Clean House (Style Network), What Not to Wear (TLC), City Confidential (BIO) and pretty much anything on History International. That’s not to mention all of the other home, cooking, makeover, history, travel and other shows I watch. I also love that these shows run at all times of the day and night, so I can almost always find something. Long live cheap cable programming!
· Greeting Cards & Letters – In the increasingly digital world we live in, people greatly underestimate the power of actual written sentiment. Yes email is the quickest and easiest way for a lot of people to communicate and e-cards are awfully cute. But for me (and I suspect I’m not alone) it means so much more to receive a tangible expression of their feelings. And whether that comes in the form of a letter or a note written in a card, I am a fan of the art. It just makes things more personal and people appreciate the extra effort. In fact, I have one friend (no I won’t call you out, but you know who you are. LOL) who gets sad if I give her a gift without a card or a card without a personal note.
· Romance Novels – I am so tired of people looking down on romance novels and judging reading materials as if they are the literature Gestapo. It’s like they forget that many of the books considered classics now, were pretty much popular romance novels in their time (like the entire works of Jane Austen). My mother always told me that you can learn something anywhere and I agree. I can’t tell you how much reading love stories increased my vocabulary when I first started reading them in the 3rd grade. As most people in my circle could tell you, I’m a veritable word nerd (see the post on my favorite words) and I do believe that I picked my love of the turn of a phrase, at least partially, from the romance books I read. So I say, judge not, lest you be judged. And let people read whatever they like, without your scorn and derision. As long as they are reading, that’s the important thing to me.

Anyway, that’s my list. I could come up with a lot more of these if I had longer, but I wanted to get this posted at some point soon. So, those are a few things that I think are criminally underrated. Why don’t you comment and tell me what things you think are in need of a greater appreciation?