Don't stand so close to me...

We're headed to the Police/Elvis Costello concert tonight.

So excited, about both.

And feeling a little geezerish 

when I admit that I kind of hope 

everyone doesn't stand up

the WHOLE time.

{Can't we have a little designated rest time, people?

Just for a little while...

maybe during Message in a Bottle?}

I'll give you a full report 

on Sting's biceps

and Elvis's glasses

tomorrow.

De do do do, de da da da... 

p.s.

Remember this?

When they play Roxanne,

I'll be thinking of my nephew Jackson.

Quandary

Lauren adores being in the theater. She was in two productions in middle school (including the lead in Twelfth Night...oh the Shakespearean lines to memorize!) and several in elementary school. This year she accepted a twice-a-week babysitting job for some neighbors, preventing her from trying out. She missed it so much (and the school play this year is going to perform at the Fringe Festival in Edinburgh so she very sadly missed that, too) that she vowed to try out next year.

This week the high school announced what the musical will be next year, a highly anticipated bit of information among the music & drama set. There were swirling rumors...

Would it be West Side Story????
{that would be my pick! how fun!}.....

Or Les Miz?
Several people were sure that was what it would be....

Or maybe Oklahoma!
A good, old fashioned choice with great music.
But no...the school has chosen....

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Miss Saigon.
Huh?

Now, I am no prude.
I love musicals and even think Miss Saigon was pretty good.
It has some beautiful music.
But I do think there are more...
shall we say appropriate?...
selections for a high school theater group.
{And keep in mind that usually the whole community
turns out, including children}

Or maybe
nothing says High School/early teen years
like Vietnam War-era prostitution?

So do I refuse to let her try out?

p.s. These were the musicals at my high school
when I was growing up:

Annie
The Sound of Music
Carousel
Seven Brides for Seven Brothers
Shenandoah
Carnival

What were yours?

First of a million kisses

{warning: melancholy alert! melancholy alert! what is it with me lately??}

I have spent an entire evening reviving an old obsession with a favorite band. Never mind that I am doing a workshop tomorrow that I need to prepare for. Or that my to-do list does not include chasing down videos of a 20-years-defunct band.

Once I was a 19-year-old girl (yes, really).
I was in London, on my own, away from home...
really away from home for the first time.
Umbrellas were very often involved,

as were late 80s clothes and a bad perm.

I fell in love with the Scottish band Fairground Attraction (led by the fantastic Eddi Reader) & listened to the tape (yes, tape) constantly. Truly, it was the soundtrack of my time there. This was one of my favorites (note: it's a little slower than the original recording. And, yes, she's a hand gesturer. Try and look past it if you can.)

Achhh, that makes me want to be Scottish. Sadly, the band broke up year after recording their album but Eddi continues to record (and her brother, Francis, is the lead singer for the Trashcan Sinatras by the way. Hmm...did I just cross the line to too nerdy? This post might just be for me.)

Today when it came on my ipod, those London memories came flooding back. Along with the current-day gratitude that the person I was thinking about back then as I walked around London became the man I'm married to now. Allelujah!

More Eddi Reader links:
Eddi Reader at TED conference & her bio there
Her website

And this one's for my mom...

Running tunes

I only demand two things of my running music: it makes me think happy thoughts and it has a good beat to motivate my pace. Here's what I've got on my playlist right now. {You will see that I came of age, musically, in the 80s so I always include a little flashback for memory's sake.}

I couldn't figure out how to link to these so I created a iTunes playlist here.
A few of the songs didn't transfer so, where possible, I've created a link for the song.

1. All I Want is You/Barry Louis Polisar
{This is the first song in the movie Juno. It just makes me smile.}

2. Grace Kelly/Mika
{Love this one, too. I usually go back and choose it again at the end of my run.}

3. Starry Eyed Surprise/Oakenfold
{I first heard this on a Diet Coke commercial--you might recognize it from there, too.}

4. Monologue/She Wants Revenge
{The most Depeche Mode-sounding band of...when did it come out?...2005?}

5. Chocolate/Snow Patrol
{Good for walking or running. Very motivating, somehow}

6. Goodbye Girl/Squeeze
{So happy. And a little dash of something different to break things up.}

7. 1963/New Order
{Couldn't find my version of this anywhere to link. I'm sorry.}

8. Because We Can/Fatboy Slim
{This is perfect to boost me to go just that much farther. Or further.}

9. Let's Go Crazy/Prince
{Dearly beloved....pure adrenaline and memory, this one.}

10. Made Up Lovesong #43/Guillemots
{Good catch-your-breath song.}

11. Bullet the Blue Sky/U2
{I always, always have a U2 song. In England (pre ipod) this was the tape I ran to.}

12. 1979/Smashing Pumpkins
{Nice beat, good song.}

13. Play That Funky Music/Wild Cherry
{Sam's favorite song & it makes me laugh. I probably strut-run a little when I hear this.}

14. Such Great Heights/The Postal Service
{Also love this song in its slow version but this keeps me going.}

15. Speed of Sound/Coldplay
{Sometimes this is my first song I listen to. Also good for slowing down.}

16. Life in a Northern Town/Dream Academy
{My all-time favorite cool down, post-run walking music.}

I'm on a quest for more. What are your favorite adrenaline-boosting songs?

Play that funky music, white boy

S has been aching for a mix cd of his own. I guess he's watched his two sisters with their iTunes/pods, heard the music seeping (or booming) from their rooms. Finally, he decided it was his turn. Enough Carrie Underwood (M) and Shania Twain (L)--he was ready to follow his own musical hankerings. I finally got some more blank cds this week and today he presented me with the list of songs he wants. Here's what my 8-year-old has chosen, all on his own:
-Upside Down (Jack Johnson)
-Bad Day (Daniel Powter)
-Axel F (Crazy Frog)
-You're Beautiful (James Blunt)
-The Sun (They Might Be Giants)
-Particle Man (They Might Be Giants)
-Photograph (Nickelback)
-Play That Funky Music White Boy (Wild Cherry)
-I'm a Believer (Smashmouth)
-How to Save a Life (The Fray)
-What a Wonderful World (Louis Armstrong)
-Wanted Dead or Alive (Daughtry)
-I'm Going Home (Daughtry)
-If I had a Million Dollars (Barenaked Ladies)
-It's Not Over (Daughtry)

Except for Wild Cherry and Daniel Powter, he even knew the artists and their spellings. I love these little windows into his world.