Friday, July 30, 2021

Music Friday: Lady A Sings, ‘You Shine Like Diamonds’ in 2008’s ‘Love’s Lookin’ Good on You’

Welcome to Music Friday when we bring you fun songs with jewelry, gemstones or precious metals in the title or lyrics. Today we have country music trio Lady A (formerly Lady Antebellum) singing “Love’s Lookin’ Good on You” from the group's 2008 chart-topping album.

The premise of the song is that a woman in love undergoes a beautiful and undeniable transformation. She beams with confidence, her eyes are twice as bright and she looks like a million bucks.

Lady A sings, “How your sweet smile has a way of / Lighting up the room / Yeah you shine like diamonds / In everything you do / Oh love, love, love is looking good / Good, good on you.”

“Love’s Lookin’ Good on You” is the sixth track on the group’s inaugural album Lady Antebellum, which was released in April of 2008 and made its debut at #1 on the U.S. Billboard Top Country albums chart. It was also a crossover success, as it reached #4 on the U.S. Billboard Top 200 albums chart.

(Lady Antebellum changed its name to Lady A in 2020 because another artist, Anita White, had been performing under that name for more than 20 years.)

The five-time Grammy-award-winning Lady A is composed of the multitalented trio of Hillary Scott (lead and background vocals), Charles Kelley (lead and background vocals, guitar) and Dave Haywood (background vocals, guitar, piano, mandolin). The group got its start in Nashville in 2006 and signed with Capitol Records a year later.

The trio is credited with 11 chart-topping songs, five billion digital streams and 18 million albums sold.

Check out the awesome 2008 live performance of Lady A singing “Love’s Lookin’ Good on You.” The studio session was sponsored by radio station 96.9 “The Kat” in Charlotte, NC. And, as always, the lyrics are below if you’d like to sing along…

“Love’s Lookin’ Good on You”
Written by Victoria Lynn Shaw, Jason Deere and Matt Lopez. Performed by Lady A.

Oh baby, baby something’s just a little bit different
In your eyes tonight,
Why they look twice as bright.
Oh baby, baby something’s changed,
That I can’t quite put my finger on,
Well I’ve been racking my brain,
Wait just a minute,
Well hold on now,
Well I’ll get it.

Love, love, love is looking good,
Good, good on you,
Can you feel it
Oh everybody sees it.
How your sweet smile has a way of,
Lighting up the room,
Yeah you shine like diamonds,
In everything you do.
Oh love, love, love is looking good,
Good, good on you.

Ooh baby, baby,
Isn’t it funny,
How we don’t need any money,
Just a little love to look like a million bucks

Ooh baby, baby,
Kinda makes you think that the stars were in sync on the night we met.
There’ll probably be a red carpet everywhere you go,
Throw it on out hey don’t you know.

Love, love, love is looking good,
Good, good on you,
Can you feel it
Oh everybody sees it.
How your sweet smile has a way of,
Lighting up the room,
Yeah you shine like diamonds,
In everything you do.
Oh love, love, love is looking good,
Good, good on you.

I knew right away from the very first kiss,
That it just doesn’t get much better than this.
We fit just like a favorite pair of jeans.
We just keep coming back for more,
Like two kids in a candy store.
And now I know what everybody means when they say.

Love, love, love is looking good,
Good, good on you,
Can you feel it
Oh everybody sees it.
How your sweet smile has a way of,
Lighting up the room,
Yeah you shine like diamonds,
In everything you do.
Oh love, love, love is looking good,
Good, good on you.

I’m telling you mighty mighty good babe.

Love, love, love is looking,
Good, good, good on you,
Love is looking good on you.

Love, love, love is looking
Good, good, good on you

Love, love, love is looking,
Good, good, good on you

Credit: Photo by zqvol, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Thursday, July 29, 2021

For the Second Time This Month, TSA Reunites Panicked Traveler With Lost Diamond

We think it's fair to say that the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is VERY good at finding loose diamonds.

Last week, we recounted the story of how the TSA reunited distraught newlyweds with a diamond lost at a security checkpoint at JFK International Airport in New York City. Today, we tell the story of how a former Mrs. Alaska was reunited with a very sentimental diamond that popped out of her ring in the baggage claim area of Ketchikan Airport 3,400 miles away in Alaska.

Danielle Wakefield, Mrs. Alaska 2017 and assistant coach for the Anchorage-based Nunaka Valley Little League softball team, flew to Ketchikan to participate in a state softball youth tournament last week. Wakefield exited the airport without realizing that the center diamond of her engagement ring — a diamond given to her by her late father — somehow got dislodged.

Wakefield's trip to the tournament required a ferry ride, and that's when she noticed her diamond was missing.

“By the time I had gotten off the ferry, I felt my ring — and my diamond was gone,” she told the Ketchikan Daily News. “I couldn’t go back.”

On the suggestion of her mother, Wakefield turned to Facebook to get the message out about her lost diamond.

In a post punctuated by two blue heart emojis and a sobbing face emoji, Wakefield wrote, "I lost my diamond in Ketchikan, Alaska between Alaska Airlines flight 64 and the ferry drop off on the other side of the channel between 4:45 pm and 5:15 pm on July 15, 2021. It would not be that big of a deal but this is the only thing I have from my late father and I’m really upset. I know it’s a long shot but I thought I would post and see if it could make it far enough to get to the person who who might find my diamond. If you found a diamond in this area, please return it to me. If you are my friend in Alaska please share! You might know someone who knows someone."

The post was widely shared by Facebook users in Ketchikan and soon caught the eye of Ketchikan Lead TSA Officer Destiny Madewell, who immediately shared the post so her friends who work at the airport would see it, and increase the chances of them finding the missing diamond.

“Looking for a lost diamond at the airport was the proverbial ‘needle in a haystack,’ but I knew from the Facebook post that the diamond had sentimental value to the owner. It had been given to her by her late father,” said Madewell. “I wanted to help in any way I could, to get the word out among the Ketchikan airport community.”

According to the TSA, later that same day as Madewell was wrapping up her shift, she went downstairs to confirm the checked baggage screening area was secured for the evening. While returning to the security checkpoint upstairs, she walked through the baggage claim area.

Something sparkling on the floor caught her eye. She took a closer look and was shocked it was the diamond described in the Facebook post.

Wakefield had been at the baggage claim about 24 hours earlier. Remarkably, the diamond had remained on the floor, undisturbed — and unnoticed — by an estimated 500 people who had been through that area of the airport after since the previous evening.

“I took the diamond upstairs and showed it to my supervisor who was aware of the Facebook post,” said Madewell. “We immediately reached out to the traveler to begin the process of reuniting her with the diamond.”

Wakefield got her diamond back in time for her to catch her flight back to Anchorage.

Returning to Facebook to update her friends about her good fortune, Wakefield also related how the spirit of her late father may have influenced the outcome.

"Thank you to everyone who shared my post!!" she wrote. "My diamond was FOUND and returned to me today by a complete stranger who saw my post shared (Destiny Madewell) and found it right before it got vacuumed up. Immediately after it was returned to me 2 Bald Eagles flew over my head. Bald Eagles are a sign of my dad - they always come at important moments."

Wakefield wrote that she was "beyond thankful."

"I can’t believe it," she continued. "Grateful doesn’t even cover it."

“We train our employees to be alert in all situations and in all aspects of their job," said Federal Security Director for Alaska Pete Duffy. "This training paid off! I am so proud of the KTN (Ketchikan Airport) TSA team, their integrity and ongoing commitment to the community. They make a positive difference in so many ways, every single day.”

Credits: Ring photo via Facebook / Danielle Wakefield. Destiny Madewell and diamond images courtesy of TSA.

Monday, July 26, 2021

Super Bowl Champ Tom Brady Just Received the 'Most Incredible Ring That's Ever Been Made'

Seven-time Super Bowl winner Tom Brady couldn't be more impressed with his brand new Tampa Bay Buccaneers championship ring — a spectacular, commemorative piece featuring 319 diamonds and an innovative twist-off top.

“They’re not so much rings, they’re more like trophies that you wear on your finger,” the age-defying quarterback said in a video posted by the Buccaneers. “This is by far the most incredible ring that’s ever been made.”

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers' players, coaches and staff received their championship rings during a private ceremony in Tampa on Thursday. The next day, Brady turned to Twitter to show off his growing collection of Super Bowl bling and captioned his photo, "How it started vs How it’s going."

Now entering his 22nd NFL season, Brady won his first six Super Bowl rings with the New England Patriots. Brady will turn 44 on August 3.

The most surprising element of the Buccaneers' Super Bowl LV ring is a twist-off top that reveals a hand-engraved, three-dimensional replica of Raymond James Stadium. According to the team, those two features – the removable top and the stadium tableau – have never before been included in a Super Bowl ring. Both are meant to celebrate the 2020 Buccaneers becoming the first team ever to win the Super Bowl at their own home stadium.

(Unlike most other sports, the NFL picks its Super Bowl host cities years in advance. For instance, 2022 Super Bowl will take place at the Rams' home stadium in Inglewood, CA, and the 2023 Super Bowl is set for Cardinals' home stadium in Glendale, AZ)

The twist-off top has a number of neat elements. When the top is flipped upside down, the players can read a laser-etched inscription titled "HISTORIC," along with a description of the unusual home-field Super Bowl victory. In the interior of the ring, a single diamond is set on the handcrafted replica of Raymond James Stadium. That diamond represents the tunnel where Buccaneers players entered during Super Bowl LV. Around the top of the stadium on each of the four sides are displays of the four game scores from Tampa Bay’s postseason run – victories against the Washington Football Team, New Orleans Saints, Green Bay Packers and Kansas City Chiefs.

“We knew that this ring had to be completely unique and representative of the special journey this team took to the championship,” said Buccaneers Co-owner Darcie Glazer Kassewitz. “We know it will be an emotional touchstone for everyone involved for many, many years to come.”

On the top of the 14-karat yellow and white gold ring are two Lombardi Trophies – representing the franchise’s two Super Bowl Championships – and the team’s signature flag logo, carved from a red stone. The 319 diamonds represent the 31-9 final score in Tampa Bay’s Super Bowl LV victory. The total weight of the diamonds is 15 carats.

Above and below the trophies are the words “World Champions,” which are diamond encrusted. Those two words are connected along the edge of each side by eight baguette-shaped diamonds, representing the franchise-record eight-game winning streak to end the season.

The Buccaneers chose celebrity jeweler Jason of Beverly Hills to design the Super Bowl rings.

“Super Bowl rings are known for being the biggest and having the most carat weight, but eventually you can’t go bigger, and you have to go better,” said Jason Arasheben, CEO of Jason of Beverly Hills. “Defying NFL tradition, the Buccaneers commissioned us to redefine what an NFL Super Bowl ring looks like. Our team did a tremendous job pushing the limits of design and incorporating several key storylines from the season into this ring. I am beyond proud.”

The left side of the ring displays each individual’s name, the jersey number and the team’s motto, “One Team, One Cause.”

The right side features the Buccaneers logo and the Super Bowl LV logo, flanked by the score of the game, with 2020 – representing the season – listed below. The four diamonds on the Super Bowl Trophy represent the team’s four playoff wins. The final feature is found inside the band, where the phrase “Trust, Loyalty, Respect” is inscribed.

Credits: Ring images courtesy of Jason of Beverly Hills. Tom Brady image via Twitter / TomBrady.