Magical Moment 461, "Take Two, I Mean Twenty-Two"

There is an episode of the comedy TV show, 30 Rock, that I find has become quite relevant to me when recording for my album. The finished product of a song is flawless, perfect, smooth. But the road getting to that outcome is a very different story.

In this episode, Jack Donaghy (Alec Baldwin), records a business presentation. His staff watches the segment and is impressed with his impeccable deliverance of the lines, his eye contact, and his overall demeanor. They praise him as a "natural" on camera and ask him to make a guest appearance on their live TV show, to which he agrees. However, they get a hold of the outtakes from his recording session and are immediately terrified of how he will do on live TV. Click here for the hilarious clip of before and after.

There are days when I've had to record one word of one lyric a half dozen times or more, just to get the pronunciation right, or the pitch just perfect, or the timing right on. But you'd never know it listening to the final outcome. Oh, the beauty of recorded music! Sorry to all the recording artists out there who want the world to think they sing the song through one time, start to finish, and wa-lah! Perfection! Cat's out of the bag. Truth is, we'd be a mess without the magic of software, the hard work of producers, and the luxury of recording take, after take, after take. (Let's just hope the world doesn't get a hold of my outtakes, yikes!).

Here are posts as I chronicle my album recording with Modern Vintage Recordings:

1. Optimistic Gamble

2. Sophie's Choice

3. Pre-Production Meeting Two

4. Redeemed

5. To Accordion or not to Accordion, that is the Question

6. Fifth String

7. My Story

8. A Good Problem

9. Move On

10. The Drums!

11. The Strings!

12. The Double Bass!

13. The Piano

14. Vocal Lesson

15, Bull's Eye

16. Progress

17. Progress II

18. Singing for Ghosts

19. Progress III

Magical Moment 625, "Thailand - the Elephants"

Needless to say, my favorite part of our Thailand vacation, was our week long volunteering at Elephant Nature Park ! The logging industry was banned in Thailand in 1989, leaving thousands of elephants unemployed. These elephants are now used for tourism. You may have heard of elephant shows featuring the animals playing soccer or painting pictures with their trunks. They are no doubt amazing to watch, but the sad truth is that these elephants have gone through a series of torture and abuse to "break their spirit" by their trainers. This short clip is very hard to watch, but it will give you an idea of what the elephants in captivity in the country of Thailand go through. The only elephants in Thailand who do not endure this, are the very few baby elephants who are first generation born in "safe captivity" at places like Elephant Nature Park. Every other elephant at this park has been brutally abused. Some have been blinded by their owners, le

Magical Moment 620, "Lilac Garden"

Eddie and I visited the Lilac Gardens at Ringwood Manor in New Jersey, a pristine and beautiful state park with 8 species of lilacs and several varieties within. We went on a rainy afternoon, which turned out perfect because the rain stopped for us when we got there, and began again as soon as we left. It also decorated the plants with gorgeous rain drops, adding to their beauty. And now for a quick game of "Where's Elizabeth?" And "Where's Eddie?" ~~Have a great weekend! ~~

Magical Moment 280, "The Eleventh Hour"

The Veterans Day Parade, NYC On July 29, 2001 , five exceptional men were honored by the President of the United States for their remarkable military service. They were involved in a top secret mission that required unfathomable intelligence and as a result, literally won a battle which was instrumental in winning the war. Not the war that was happening in 2001, not even the Gulf War. It was World War II, and they were the Navajo Code Talkers who were largely responsible for winning the bloody battle of Okinawa. The only problem with the ceremony was that just 5 remained of the original 29. Our country was too late in thanking the other 24, and nearly too late in thanking those 5 men. On March 10, 2010, three hundred women won the Congressional Gold medal for their outstanding war service. Unfortunately, 800 received the award posthumously. These were the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) of World War II, who devoted themselves to flying military aircraft like the B-26 and B-

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