Legendary bluesman Son Seals once said, when asked to describe the blues, that as a child he often did childish things. He had childish thoughts and said childish things. But, when he became an adult, Son Seals admitted, the childish aspects of his life melted away and the only things left of him were hope, faith and love.

Hope, faith and love. The essence of the blues; where others heard sadness and depression in the smoky minor chord guitar licks, Son Seals heard the sounds of a yearning optimism. He heard the sounds of dignity and the end of human suffering.

I’d like to believe that hope, faith and love are all we need. In many ways the Arkansas-born, Chicago bluesman Son Seals isn’t too different from Donna Bashford.

Because during one of the darkest times in her life, her fight against Breast Cancer, Bashford’s survival is a testament to her hope and faith; her current calling to raise money for Breast Cancer research is a testament to love, so that others will not be faced with losing a loved one.

This weekend Bashford will be in Boston to take part in the annual Breast Cancer Three Day Walk to raise money for the Susan G. Koman Foundation. Her dedication, and those of so many women like her, should not go unnoticed or unrecognized.

Donna and Jeff Bashford

Those silent heroes who persevere in the face of adversity, who live to make a difference and inspire others around them to not give up, to live and fight another day, to be thankful and loving and cherish each moment; because they know that, despite surviving themselves, the fight to cure Breast Cancer is far from over.

According to the National Cancer Institute, in 2007 there will be more than 178,000 women diagnosed with the disease (2,000 men as well) and sadly, almost 40,500 mothers, daughters and wives will lose their own heroic struggle.

In many ways, Donna Bashford is an unassuming woman. She is delightful. Not in a condescending way, like “oh isn’t she delightful,” but in an honest-to-goodness way. One can’t help but feel the tension and stress drain from their soul when talking with her or standing by her. She carries her soul in a way which connotes blissfulness. One gets the sense that she is at peace and this merely helps others feel the same way. It was not always like this.

We sat down with Donna Bashford, a New Bern, NC resident to talk about hope, faith, love, saving the “ta-ta’s”, her survival, long-distance walking in general, and this weekend’s three day walk. [If you'd like to make a donation to her campaign, please visit here]

How long have you been cancer free?

Three years this past April 30. I was first diagnosed in 2004. It was my annual mammogram and they caught it early. The doctor said I could wait two years because I didn’t have any risk factors. I had a friend who waited and look what happened to her. Two years might have made a difference. I was very polite and very quickly said no thanks.

That quite possibly saved my life. After I was diagnosed there were about four people who had been putting it off and I told them to get one right away. Part of being a survivor is to get people to do a mammogram. I didn’t have a family history of Breast Cancer and come to find out most women who get Breast Cancer have no history at all. Some feel a lump. There was no lump to feel because it was so early.

You must have been pretty scared when you got such unexpected news?

I think I just kind of felt like my breath was taken away. I was like that doesn’t make any sense. I had a hard time believing it. If it was any other kind of cancer . . . [her voice trails off into a thought]

Within three hours I had a biopsy scheduled. I had to come up stairs and tell Jeff [her husband]. I thought something good was going to come out of it. I knew it was early and I was like I’m not going to die. I went upstairs to tell Jeff and started to look to God to how this was going to turn good.

The low point came about a month after being diagnosed. I went to my oncology appointment and he laid out the statistics and it hit me that I have cancer and the reality of it sunk in. He was very clear, he wasn’t talking about whether I was going to live or die but how to not have it recur. I think I was pretty positive, and have a nice selective memory. I remember early on, I remember thinking it can’t be as bad as mom.

How so?

I’d just watched my mother die a slow and awful death from Alzheimer’s and that was the hardest two years of my life. If this was the only scary thing in my life, Breast Cancer, I was thinking this was going to be a five out of ten. Which some think is crazy, but that’s just my perspective.

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Jack and Meg have a new video out, for what is probably the best song off of Icky Thump.  It’s catchy as hell and really harkens back to a day when rock music got heavier, darker and generally better.  Which is strange, because the song is one of the tamer Stripes tunes.

Regardless, you can check out the cool video over at MTV2.

And just because we love you, we’ve dug up some video footage of their recent secret shows jaunt through Canada.  In case you haven’t heard, Jack and Meg toured Canada, with the goal of playing every city and province, and at several concert stops they played a stripped down secret show in some strange place.  Like at a YMCA for a bunch of kids attending day camp, for a children’s hospital or on a bus, etc.  Take the jump for some hightlights. MORE »

Just some stuff to start you off on your long day at the cubicle.  Anyone else watching Greek?  It’s on ABC Family of all places and it’s a shame that the show is on ABC Family and not a station that could do Greek Life on a college campus justice.  But it is worth watching for Clark Duke (of Clark and Michael fame) playing a redneck religious freak.  Anyway, I digress.

- Chief Justice John Roberts had a seizure while on vacation in Maine.

- In all the hubabaloo of Sen. Hillary Clinton becoming the first female president, and the focus of Bill’s inevitable panty raids as first man, has anyone thought about Chelsea Clinton becoming the first first child in history to have that honor twice?

- AOL is streaming new albums this week from the likes of Korn, Common, G. Love and Shivaree.  

- Yes!  What’s up with the trend of slightly aging future hall of famers coming to Boston?  I dunno, but as pumped about the Randy Moss suiting up with the Pats, the Celtics just picked up Kevin Garnett!  This would have been awesome five years ago, but hell at least the Celtics are sort of relevant again.   

- The Dude always abides.  Check out this awesome piece Jeff Bridges wrote for the Guardian about being The Dude.

- We’re still looking for any and all Harry Potter related information.  Thankfully, we’ve got The Leaky Cauldron to turn to.  They’ve just posted a transcript with mastermind J.K. Rowling.

- The CW has put up the first episode of their new show The Reaper.  Word is it’s one of the most promising new shows this fall season.  Judge for youself.  If you need a code use this one: 082507

- Premiere Magazine has a little feature about “The 20 Hottest New Faces of Comedy”

In memory of the late Tom Snyder.

He interviews the only rock band that ever mattered.

Here he takes up with Billy Corgan around their Adore album.

Um, chatting with Johnny Rotten and Keith Levene. Love Mr. Rotten’s sinister grin at the end.

Remember when U2 was cool? So do we and it was in 1981. 26 years later it is confirmed that Bono needs an enema.

The KISS Army rolls on and we’re happy to oblige.

Pretty uneventful weekend. Finally finished watching Little Children. And it was, entirely gripping, albeit a little long. It was great to watch an affair develop and the effects it can have on a marriage. However, that being said, the conclusion was entirely anticlimactic. The movie built to absolutely nothing and then it just ending. There was a “shocking” ending involving the neighborhood sexual offender, but it wasn’t so much shocking as it was vile. Good movie, but it could have been great and was really let down by the third act.

With that said, I also got a chance to catch FX’s Damages. It’s been sitting in the Tivo all week. Loved it. Didn’t really see the ending coming, which is saying something. Great performances by Glenn Close, who’s positioning herself to be one of television’s more interesting characters. Patty Hewes, the great litigator, is playing chess when everyone else is playing checkers. It also stars Tate Donovan and Rose Byrne and Ted Danson. The show jumps around a bit in time, but it only adds layers as you’re trying to figure out how the show gets to where it’s going. Totally engrossing, and I really fell in love when the show ended with The White Stripes “I Think I Smell a Rat.”

Anyone see The Simpson’s Movie this weekend? We haven’t seen it yet, but hopefully soon. Anyway somethings to stew over the watercooler with.

- Legendary filmmaker Ingmar Bergman passed away. He was 89 years old and created some of cinema’s most enduring movies. The Seventh Seal, Wild Strawberries, and Scenes from a Marriage immediately spring to mind.

- The Police rocked Fenway Park over the weekend. They’ve joined the likes of Bruce Springsteen, The Rolling Stones, Jimmy Buffet and Dave Matthews. The Boston Globe’s Joan Anderman thinks they did a great job putting new twists on the old classics.

- Looks like Johnny Depp may be playing the good doctor once again. Warner Independent has acquired the rights to Hunter S. Thompson’s novel The Rum Diary. And Warner wants Depp to reprise his role from Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.

- The first poster for Tim Burton’s Sweeney Todd has arrived. And of course, it looks awesome! Maybe we should make this an all Johnny Depp day.

- NPR has two concerts up that offer numerable pleasures, depending on your mood. One is from Gypsy Punks Gogol Bordello and the other is from Britpopsters Travis. Each play set lists heavy off of their 2007 releases.

- Attorney Genereal Alberto Gonzales is inching closer to facing perjury charges. And the super happy fun time bus just keeps on rolling with this administration.

- Looks like the entire Republican Presidential candidates are taking a pass at their CNN/YouTube debates on Sept. 17. Both Mitt Romney and Rudy Giulliani are apparantly saying, thanks but no thanks.

- Holy crap! Guerilla drive ins? What the, well if you’re up for listening NPR has a cool story about a group of folks in Santa Cruz, Calif. who are taking the drive-in movie back to the streets.

- Pigeon Genocide! Los Angeles has had enough and they are making attempts to erradicate the pigeon population by placing birth control in rooftop kibble feed.

- The Simpsons Movie rallied the troops and cashed in like Krusty the Clown. It took in $72 million over the weekend. And yes, I’m having a cow.

- RIP Tom Snyder. He was a classy late night host, didn’t pander with terrible humor. His interviews were always interesting and intelligent and most often his guests weren’t on because they were selling their latest CD or movie. I remember watching him smoking butts and often times he had the hardest time not cracking up.

- A little profile on My Boys’s Jordana Spiro, who plays the main character P.J. The second season premieres tonight and we can say that is something we won’t be watching. It’s too bad because they show has some talented actors and a criminally underused Jim Gaffigan, but it’s just not that good. It could be however.

So this past weekend was the Comic Con in San Diego and one day we keep promising ourselves we’ll make it down their for all the glorious geekitude.  For now, check out the Iron Man presentation by Jon Favreau.  And we know you were already excited, but still seeing some actual footage gets us totally geeked out.

It’s Sunday, so that means it’s time to take a look at the bounty of movie trailers we’ve been watching this week.

Dedication

Directed by actor Justin Theroux, in this one we’ve got Billy Crudup playing an seriously screwed up children’s book author. He’s got big time problems and they only seem to get worse when he meets his new illustrator played by Mandy Moore. Now would be a good time to ask whether Mandy Moore is required to sing in this movie like she is in every movie she stars in. Seriously, it’s like the same thing with Kate Winslet showing her bosom in every movie, except we like it when Kate does it. Not so much with Mandy. We digress. We know the two will get together in the end, so it’s just a matter of how they get there and if we really like them. Hopefully, first time director Theroux is up for the challenge.

War

In a dark underworld! Jet Li! Jason Statham! A renegade FBI agent, a lone assassin … are at war! Um, yeah, this is probably one of the lamest cut trailers ever and me thinks the good folks around here will be waiting for this one to appear on Spike TV before seeing this.

National Treasure: Book of Secrets

Not the first movie we’d think would get the sequel treatment, but we’re certainly happy to have another installment. The first one for Disney was an unexpected joy. Due in no small part to, well, we’re still trying to figure out just how the hell the first movie was such a pleasure. We don’t much care for Nic Cage or a lot of Bruckheimer produced flicks, but somehow, the movie made us feel like that seven year old kid going to the movies for the first time. It was fun and crazy and the plot was interesting enough. This time around, all the major players are back trying to discover the secret to Abraham Lincoln’s assassination. Word is Jet Li is nowhere to be found.

The Hunting Party

Fantastic cast with Terrence Howard, Richard Gere, Jesse Eisenberg and Diane Kruger. Based on a true story during the Bosnian-Kosovo war in the 90’s, but damn why does journalism always look so much more exciting in the movies? Most of the time you get used to sitting at a desk making phone calls or driving around with not much happening. In the movies people die, you can’t trust anyone and your life is always at risk in some remote junle/third world location. I guess that’s what it’s like for Anderson Cooper.

December Boys

Based on the Michael Noonan novel of the same name, this movie follows the lives of four Australian orphans during the 1960’s. The orphanage sends the four boys, all born in December, to the seaside one year and you know, they grow up, come of age, all that sort of stuff. Familiar territory, for sure, but we can’t help but feel this could be worth checking out, if for nothing else than it stars Harry Potter. Which only begs the question, why doesn’t he just use some magic and make his life better?

This one has been attached to prints of The Simpson’s Movie.  Pretty effective and reveals absolutely nothing.  The second voice is, I believe, Heath Ledger, as The Joker.  Can’t wait for some actual footage though.

The Dark Knight strikes back in 2008.

We’re still about three weeks away from the official release of Rilo Kiley’s 4th studio LP Under the Blacklights.  Could this be their LA album?  No leaks anywhere and from just the two tracks we’ve heard seems Jenny Lewis, Blake Sennett and mates are trying to mix things up.

“The Money Maker” had a sleezy, funked out vibe all over it.  Their new track, “Silver Lining” (can be heard over at Steroegum) has that lazy, shimmering, hand-clapping sound your parents know and love.  This one has sunny 60’s pop oozing out of it.  “Hooray, hooray, I’m your silver lining!” Petula Clark would be so proud.

Under the Blacklight is out 8.21 on Warner Bros. Records

Tour dates abound over at Myspace.

Identical twins Tegan and Sara Quin, born in Alberta, Calgary no less, dropped their fifth LP last Tuesday, The Con. The album was produced mainly by Chris Walla of Death Cab For Cutie, but Matt Sharp of The Rentals (and formerly Weezer) also pitched in for production duties.

The Con is shaping up to be one of our favorite records this year. The Quin sisters (ones living in Montreal and the others in Vancouver) have got a sort of folk meets punk sound filtered through tight pop arrangements.

This album is light years better than their previous album, 2004’s So Jealous.

This video for the track “Back in Your Head” has got some sweet ninja action and balloons! Anyway, Sara is singing and Tegan is playing drums. This track has a sweet, as in cute or nice, piano melody and anyone who’s done something stupid to a loved one will identify with the line “I’m not unfaithful but I’ll stray/I just want back into your head.”

Hopefully, the sisters will release vid treatments for “Hop on a Plane” or “Nineteen” or even “Burn Your Life Down.” As you can imagine there’s lots of great singles in this album.

Visit them at Myspace.

Take the jump for some pick up tips from the sisters. MORE »