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Showing posts from August 12, 2011

Magical Moment 558, "Zarkana"

While my little sister was visiting, I took her to see the new  Cirque du Soleil  show at Radio City Music Hall. I had a feeling it would be right up her alley. We tease her that she's the "quirkier" of the 3 sisters.  I had recently watched part of a documentary describing the extraordinary undertaking it takes to put a show together. They audition acts for an entire year, have elaborate costumes and make up, and boast some of the most professional lighting directors, choreographers, and staging equipment in the business. The stage itself is so extravagant, they could not run a complete dress rehearsal until mere days before the opening at Radio City, as only a few stages in the country are able to accommodate the grand scale of equipment, and Radio City's stage was occupied with other acts. Instead, they rehearsed different sections of the show on different stages  around the country , until they were able to piece it all together in New York.  Quirky it was - to

Magical Moment 557, "I Stop to See a Weeping Willow"

And a few other things as well...I've been to this  park in Bernardsville, NJ  once before, but I had to stop again today on my way to work. It's just so lovely. I tried to come up with all captions from classic country songs since I already had the willow stuck in my head. It does get to be a bit of a challenge... "I stop to see a weeping willow, cryin on his pillow. Maybe he's cryin for me."  ( Walkin After Midnight  by Patsy Cline) "Ah, breaker, Big Ben, this here's the Duck." ( Convoy  by C.W. McCall) "Love is like a butterfly, a rare and gentle thing." ( Love is Like a Butterfly  by Dolly Parton) "The cattle are prowlin, the coyotes are howlin, way out where the doggies roam." ( Cattle Call  by Eddie Arnold) 

Magical Moment 556, "From the Soundtrack"

It's not often that I learn a song strictly from sheet music. And it's even less often that I learn and memorize the whole thing in just one day. But I guess stranger things have happened. This is a piece from the soundtrack of " The King's Speech ." I let the credits roll just so I could hear the whole thing! I thought it might work to play for ballet class. Of course I have to chop it up first to make it "square." But I thought I 'd learn it in it's entirety before I did that. It's a little rough, but I wanted to record it while it was still in my head (it may fall out by tomorrow).  This is a beautiful piece and I hope you enjoy it. (The movie's pretty good too!) ~~~ Other posts like this: A Day's Work Beth's Adagio New Spin on Classic Rock Name That Tune

Magical Moment 555, "Le P-ew! Close one!"

"Please, I'll never eat another Cheeto as long as I live!" If you are ever in charge of trapping a pesky animal of some kind to "take care of it," here is a tip. Don't call me to come check it out before you "take care of it," or it won't get "taken care of." As seen in this example when someone, was supposed to do something, but he -or she- didn't because someone else would have made him -or her- sleep on the couch that night if he -or she- had done it. For music, I couldn't decide between something French in honor of my old buddy Peppy, or the classic ballad, "Born Free." Either way, I bet this little fellow is never tempted by the smell of Cheetos (yes, Cheetos!) again. (In case you missed  yesterday's  disclaimer, I am  still  not Steven Spielberg)

Magical Moment 554, "Sunrise, Sunset"

While my husband Eddie was at the Grand Canyon for National Park Service training, he got up early one morning to watch the sunrise. That evening, he watched the sun go down. He took the camera, and snapped a picture from the same vantage point every 2-4 minutes! I thought it would make a great time lapse video (keep in mind I'm not Steven Spielberg!) and you could get a sense of the wonder that is the Grand Canyon! ~~~ Goodbye Breath If I was a Squirrel, I'd live in the Grand Canyon On the Edge of a Nervous Breakdown Life Among the Rock I Spy

Magical Moment 553, "Lessons From the Dog Park"

                          We could be little...                                                       Or big.    A different color... Or just plain  different !               And though we may be curious...                            Or even guarded at first,   We can get over it and play together!

Magical Moment 552, "A Decade"

A facebook alert has been popping up on my news feed for about 3 months now. Not long ago, I finally clicked on it to see what the event was...my 10 year high school reunion. I couldn't make it back to attend, but on a whim, I decided to dig out my old yearbook, thinking about my former classmates who are gathering together this weekend so far away. Perhaps my fondest memory of high school was during my sophomore year, when my older sister (born to be a cheerleader), drug me (happy to be a wall flower) along to the squad auditions. We both made it. That year, our basketball team went all the way to State, and for the final victory game, our cheerleading coach rented her girls a limousine. We rode to the last game in style, cheered our little peppy hearts out, and the basketball team won State. My older sister graduated high school that year, and I never re-auditioned for the squad, but I always think of those days with fondness. There were other good memories too of course, but I