My Life is Complete!

For those who know me, know that I am TERRIBLE at returning phone calls. I just don't go well with listening to voicemails and then remembering they are in my phone. For years I have been looking for a way to see my voicemail either by sending them to my email account or some online thing. Well, I found it today! A widget that I have placed on my dashboard will make my voicemails visual! Hope against hope that now I will be able to return more phone calls. The best news is that it's FREE!

A New Musical

Okay, when I first saw this listed as a new musical by Duncan Sheik, I was a bit skeptical, but I have to say that I am floored by the music and the storyline. Check out this song from the show. I have the soundtrack on order, so I'll give you a full reivew when I get a chance to listen to it all.

David Hasslehoff...yes, it's as bad as I thought

I love the Musical Jekyll and Hyde and unfortunately the only video version has Mr. Hasslehoff as the lead. Yes, it's as bad as I thought it was going to be. Enjoy!

You've never what???

So I was in the teacher's lounge just now, when I expressed the fact that I have never been in the Metrodome (our professional sporting facility). I was met with shocked, confused, and repulsed faces as if EVERYONE has been there because sports rules the world.

Then I asked if any of them had ever been to Orchestra Hall. Two out of 6 raised their hands...but nobody looked shocked or horrified.

Hmmmm...further proof that professional sports is lost on me.

Butterflies - Still

You know what I think is neat? Every week when I write new lesson plans for my kids, I get butterflies just before they come in. Sometimes I am excited about the lesson and I really want to see how it goes with the kids, and sometimes these butterflies are caused by my lesson plan extending outside my comfort level trying something new. Either way, these are good butterflies and it makes me love my job even more. No day is ever the same here and nothing ever goes quite as planned. It's like performing experiments all day.



I just wanted to share some positivity today...after all the negativity that has been going around this school lately.

Thar She Blows...on the stage?

I remember back a year or so ago, my dad and I were discussing a musical based on the novel Moby Dick. It was a ridiculous premise with chorus lines and a strange ensemble number called "thar she blows" in which captain Ahab did a little tap dance. I don't remember how exactly we came to this topic or how it eventually ended. Although I do remember it being absolutely hysterical! Can you imagine a stage full of men dressed as sailors singing a chorus of "thar she blows"? Priceless right?



Well, today, I was stumbling around the net to kill some time, when I found a new Opera all about...yup, you guessed it: Moby Dick. "Call Me Ishmael" is the name of this and the tagline says: "More than a musical - more than an opera". Searching the site I didn't find any mention of a big musical number featuring that famous line "thar she blows". Although there is a ballet showing a "wild orgy of drunkenness below deck".



All I can say is...next time dad, we'd better keep the ideas a secret

New Website

Hey, Check out this new website I just created

An Explanation

A reader of my blog suggested that I explain yesterday's joke for the non musical geeks in my audience. So, here goes: Yesterday was Phillip Glass's Birthday and I was listening to NPR's Composers Datebook when I heard the joke. Phillip Glass is a 20th century composer who is part of the minimalist school of music. He is famous for writing music that has lots of ostinati (repeating melodic or rhythmic patterns that go on and on). Hence the joke that just keeps going on and on forever.



Okay, so maybe it's only funny to me





However, I LOVE Phillip Glass. There is something extremely calming and so unique about the complex simplicity of his music. He is a huge supporter of Tibet's fight for freedom and wrote the music for Martin Scorsese's KUNDUN. Kundun is an amazing movie with haunting music that tells the story of the current incarnation of the Dalai Lama and his fight for peace in the world.