franny and.

zooey deschanel is just, so, wonderful.

mark and i are a big fan of "top" lists. it's pretty much a given that whatever we're discussing, one of us will interrupt the discussion and say "HAY. TOP THREE [INSERT TOPICAL ITEM HERE]." Last nite, it was top three female comedians (we didn't share a single one, odd). Anyway, if I had to choose my top 3 actresses, ms. zooey would be in there. (other 2: julianne moore & catherine keener. i would watch them butter toast.) also i want zooey's hair, really really badly.


the new erin fetherston video starring zooey is on youtube now, and i gotta say, i wasn't as enthralled as i had hoped. the video barely showcases any of fetherston's designs, which are the most lovely, whimsical things, and the concept/direction is pretty underwhelming: zooey prancing around a forest to different songs in the same 2 outfits for 7 minutes. the kirsten dunst one was somehow more engaging, even though it had pretty much the same concept -- altho that cocorosie song! ah, gives me the good chills.

BUT, around the 4:45 mark, the soundtrack switches to an andrews sisters song, "tico tico." my beloved gramma's favorite group was the Andrew Sisters, and we used to play the cassette tape in the kitchen while she cooked or when i helped clean up after dinner. If I was lucky, she would agree to play the album on the record player and we'd listen to the scratchy trumpets blast that inimitable '40s big band sound, and I'd think of my grandma back in her day, wearing all those gorgeous dresses still hanging in her closet, dancing along to the Andrews Sisters in heels and red lipstick, her dark curls shining. We would listen to the album standing side by side at the kitchen sink, my child fingers soapy and pruned, and her spotted, strong hands confidently handling the china plates. Our hips would swing in unison to our favorite songs, 'rum and cola' or 'apple tree,' about a soldier begging his girl to wait for him until he gets home after the war:

don't sit under the apple tree
with anyone else but me
no anyone else but me
til i come marching home

ok, that was a major digression. the point is, zooey dancing around to the andrew sisters is the sweetest thing, it's worth at least going to that minute mark of the fetherston video just to see it. here she is in concert, singing 'i put a spell on you' with that unbelievably haunting, lovely voice of hers.