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Showing posts from May 6, 2011

Magical Moment 462, "Ice Cream Butt"

My best friend of nearly 20 years,  Deb , now has 2 small kids of her own. The oldest, Zoey, is turning out to be quite a ham, just like her mom! I have memories of Deb and I in 5th grade making complete fools out of ourselves in public, and enjoying every second of it. Once, we thought it would be absolutely hilarious to call random strangers Elvis Butt. I don't know why we thought that, but ya know what? It  was  hilarious.  Recently, Deb, Zoey, and I were sitting in her living room when Zoey (only 3 at the time) said the word, "Ice cream Butt." It caught us so off guard, that before Deb realized it, she had let out a snicker. Immediately she caught herself and threw a stern look at her daughter. But it was too late. Zoey realized she found a word that made us laugh, and so she took advantage of the situation, incorporating it into every sentence possible. And strangely enough,  every  time it was funny. Finally Deb tried to crack down a little harder, telling her &qu

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 li

Magical Moment 460, "Finishing Uphill"

There are a couple running routes that Joy and I tackle. The 3 main ones I choose from are the Long route, the Short route, and the Hard route. The Hard route is full of hills. And just when we think we're done with our work out and we're home free, there is one last enormous hill to conquer. A hill so steep, long, and winding, that the sidewalk has been turned into stairs for pedestrians. But once we've made it to the top, it feels so good. I praise Joy and tell her what a good girl she is. I just think it's a great way to finish a run. Not an easy way. But then again, most things worth doing never are. (This is the first half of the hill, the second is beyond that curve)

Magical Moment 459, "Georgia"

This is a video from Jazz Night at Soule Restaurant in Brooklyn. I played there last week and had a great time. They invited me back to play June 10th! Enjoy!

Magical Moment, 458, "A Mamma's Babies"

Don't mess with a Mamma's babies!  "The watchful mother tarries nigh, though sleep has closed her infant's eyes."   -John Keble Happy Mother's Day, all you Mammas out there!

Magical Moment 457, "Meal Time Shocks"

Every time I go back home to visit my nephews, it seems they manage to shock and surprise me with how much they've grown up and changed since my  last  visit. For some reason, meal time, is the common time to do this. Once on a visit home, I was feeding Ethan (then 3 years old) a snack of cheese and crackers. Midway through, with his mouth stuffed full, he said something like,  "Aunt Beff, can I have more cheezwilmows?"  I had no idea what he meant, so I asked him to repeat it. "More cheezwilmows?" he asked again. Finally I had to get his mother in the next room to translate. She laughed and explained, "He's saying, 'Can I have more cheese, little mouse?'" It seems whenever his mother puts cheese on his plate, she says, "Here's some cheese, little mouse!" He learned to make it all one word.  Ethan shocked me again more recently when he was having trouble getting the ranch dressing bottle open.  He struggled for a minute and

Magical Moment 456, "Overheard"

Overheard in the waiting room of a family-owned Italian hair salon in Northern New Jersey: A young, pregnant woman sat in chair reading last month's  People  magazine with her mother next to her. "You pick a name yet?" her mother asked in her heavy Italian accent, referring to her daughter's unborn child.  "I told you already, ma. We like Shane," the daughter replied with out glancing up. " Shama?!  You a gonna name my only garan-sun Shama? Like, 'I'm ashama you?'" The daughter gave her an exasperated look, "No ma. SHAY-NNNN." The mother threw her hands up, "I a no understand." In what seemed like a rehearsed response, the daughter explained, "Ma, no Italian name goes with the last name of Shroeder. We just want something that sounds American and goes together. Anyways, everything worked out with our first one. You didn't like  her  name and now you love it." Then the daughter looked at me, a p