Greetings from Boston

Typing from iPod is slow so this is brief.
We are in Boston as of yesterday and loving it. We is Dad and me.
Weather is 65 and overcast. Have taken some neat pics to post later.
If you wanna see what we did today, google Freedom Trail. Also check outna cool street performer at yoyoshow dot com.

TONY Awards

Writing my comments as we go:
Opening - CBS, fix your sound issues. You're embarrassing yourselves if we getting more laughs and coughs from the audience than vocals from the stage.

Shrek, the musical - Thumbs down. While some of the greatest Broadway shows of this decade have been seemingly unlikely adaptations of smash-hit animated films - this is not one of those. Music is unoriginal, old-fashioned, predictable. A far miss at the parody achieved in Spamalot, Curtains, and other shows that take themselves 1/2 seriously in order to allow for jabs at other shows.

NPH is a funny host.

33 Variations - Intriguing. I would like to see or read this one, but the preview wasn't much to know what it's about.

West Side Story - Doing this show with a bi-lingual reminds me of the "Big River" revival (2002?) when the entire show was done in English and ASL. I love it! I love that you can understand everything being discussed even if you speak not a work of Spanish (so say the reviews)! They chose to perform one of the big dance numbers - I would have to ask one of my dancer friends to comment on the quality of it - but it's not the same shark/jet 1970s Afro Carribbean style we saw in the traditional production.

Rock of Ages - Still don't know what this show is about - but their cast performance was hilarious. Catching Liza off guard was akin to the cast of "25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee" pulling a confused-looking Al Sharpton onstage in 2005. I'm gonna guess that this is one of those shows that's a fun concert for fans of the music they cover, but probably lacks a compelling story that pulls you into the characters. Again, I would love to be corrected.

Guys and Dolls - Thank you for fixing the sound, stage crew. Vocally, this is the most musically "tight" performance we've heard thus far tonight. I like this new orchestration and vocal backup parts - gives an already classic number fresh propulsion. One question about the revival: Is it any shorter than the original? Since the first time I saw this show (and the 2nd, then 3rd) I've been of the opinion that the best thing for it would be a 25 minute cut in the overall length.

Note: John Stamos in "Bye Bye Birdie" should be a lot of fun. I hope it tours and does well.

Next to Normal - The number started dull and I was thinking "there's not anything here" but it picked up with the third person came in. Fun music, probably an intense story, but I honestly don't think there's anything memorable in it. I think this show will not stick around.

Billy Elliott - I don't know this story, but I'm sure this number makes more sense in context. I wish they'd chosen a number with more lyrics than "Aaah!" But Elton John always writes an exciting score.

Legally Blonde - I feel like I should hold some grudge against this show. Two of my friends have come very close to winning leading roles in this show, and not gotten it. If you've seen the movie, as I have, and not the show, as I have not, then you're probably thinking "has the Broadway audience sunk this low?" and granted, this is no Les Mis or Rent, but the stage adaption, from what I can tell or have been told, plays more to the idea of a modern - strong, woman. More along the lines of Thoroughly Modern Millie, we see a girl whose beauty is seen as an excuse or a setback to the world, who proves herself professional, adequate and a force to be reckoned with. Not just the movie's comedy of shopping bags, vanity and princess-gets-everything.

Lifetime Achievement to Jerry Herman - my only question - Why did it take until 2009?

Irony = Anne Hathaway + Hair

Hair - nothing new. Keep whatever opinion of "Hair" you already had.

I always enjoy watching the Tonys in order to get a preview of what's new on Broadway, but this year nothing stands out. This is the first one in awhile where I'm in no hurry to save up and buy soundtracks. Maybe next year.

Summer is Heeeeeere

I am so glad summer is here! Yesterday was the last day with students, and I spent the rest of yesterday and most of today rapping up grades, putting away music, setting classes for next year, etc.
Finally, I am getting to CLEAN OUT THIS ROOM! I will have to work on this throughout the semester, but it's hard to get much organizing done during the year because it takes all day long just to do the day to day stuff, and anytime you go through things, you have to put everything back in time for the next day.

Both in college, and with teaching, I find that a full day of school takes up all of my brain juice. It's hard to get into books, or anything intellectually stimulating after a 12 hour day of school. Instead, I get home and all I can think about is unwinding and resting my mind.

Now I'll still be going to school pretty much every day for the foreseeable future, but instead of teaching and practicing (which I love, seriously, I do, it doesn't stress me out at all, it just uses up all my energy) I'm moving things around and sorting them. Now my mind feels free to think about other things.

I reserved some books at the library earlier this week, and this afternoon swung by and picked up the ones that have come in. I'm going to read "The Soloist" as per Aunt Jean's recommendation and so that I will have read the story before I see the movie.
I'm also reading "Aaron Copland: The Life and Work of an Uncommon Man". I would really like to teach some Copland music to my Orchestra kids over the next couple of years, and this will help to make me qualified to talk about it.
In preparation for my trip to Boston with Dad at the end of this month, I got a DVD documentary on the Kennedys. I want to read "John Adams" by David McCullough, but it's not in yet. Similarly "Cambridge Conductor's Companion" caught my attention and I have a place in the reservation line to read it later.
"Primary Justice" is a legal thriller by William Bernhardt. I'd never heard of either of them, but the online review said he writes similar stories to those of John Grisham, and I have enjoyed several of Grisham's books.
I don't know if I'll finish all or any of these, but that's what I love about the library, you can take 10 books, try them all, finish the handful you like, and go back the very next week, day, whatever, and get a fresh set!

Also in the summer kick-off spirit, I went for a swim in my apartment complex's pool this evening. It felt great (3rd floor apartment BAKES! I will be finding out-of-house places to be every day this summer, this is ridiculous). The pool is nice, but I'm hoping that by going first thing in the morning the lap lanes will be less obstructed so I can use pool time as exercise as well.

Swap Meet

Summer is coming. One thing I look forward to most during summer is more enjoyable reading time. As is, during busy weeks, I don't get to read for pleasure until late at night, in which case I'm just reading to go to sleep. It can be difficult to really get into a good book if you only read 15 minutes a night and forget everything you read the next morning.
Also, while I never plan for this, I always see alot of movies over holidays and summer. There are more movies in the theaters, along with movies that came out during the year that I meant to see but had no time. Furthermore, movies are always a pretty sure bet when looking for something to do with friends.

So, with summer coming, I want to make the most of my brief increased reading time. That's where you come in Blog world. I've probably read 10-12 books during this school year, and below I will briefly review the ones I think are the best and that I would recommend to a friend.

Your job: recommend books that you like! Save me the trouble of starting or reading several different books before finding a really enjoyable one. Help me find good books to read that I wouldn't find by just scanning the NYT Best-Sellers list. Thanks in advance!


My best read of 2008/2009: The Kite Runner.


I still have not seen the movie adaptation, but this book hooked me from cover to cover. I am thrilled to see it on the new AP English reading list for high school students. I cannot wait until my students in AP English and reading it and talking about it. This is not a light read, but rather an intense story of true friendship and selfless love.
As a follower of Christ, I delight in the "self evidence" of God's traits of grace, love, and sacrifice. The author is culturally Islamic, the characters are Islamic, and the setting is in a heavily Islamic Afghanistan - and still the literary ideas we Westerners consider "Judeo-Christian" - sacrifice, selfless love, unending giving - are never more beautifully honored in all of fiction that in this book.


Next - A Whole New Mind

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41GMBp-ziOL._BO2,204,203,200_PIsitb-sticker-arrow-click,TopRight,35,-76_AA240_SH20_OU01_.jpg

Now, I must admit, my interest in this book originated simply because I attended a presentation by the author that left me fired up and inspired. But I read his book twice and could not memorize his information fast enough.
We have seen a number of best sellers in the business world that attempt to alert us to the changing and globalizing world. Standing out among them is "The World is Flat" and I have read that one as well. If you pick between the two to read, read "A Whole New Mind". This book not only explains why globalization changes the demands on the training and skills of a 21st Century Middle Class Professional, but he offers very clear suggestions for addressing the new competitive battlegrounds.

My final recommendations(s): "The Fourth Bear" and "The Big Over Easy."




Jasper Forde, a British author, has a sense of humor unlike anybody else I've read. These "Nursery Crime" mysteries create complicated murder-mystery plots using classic literary characters, or "Persons of Dubious Reality" intertwined with everyday British society.
I have used both of these books on CD on roadtrips - and they make the drive seem short and easy.



Also, last summer I read "The Shack".
I only mention this one because it has become pretty popular amongst Christian literature, and so you may have heard about it. I cannot say this one is a favorite, but I suppose I'm glad I read it. The author addresses some commonly raised issues with God, the church, and mankind, but I wouldn't say it contains any new perspective or explanation. Not a hard read, so perhaps I should be easier on it - you'll get something out of it, and it won't take long to read.


I would also like to point out that I do not own any of these books. Rather, I have borrowed or Library-ed most of the books I've read this year, and that's the best way to do it.

Belated Update

Thank you to everyone who sent birthday wishes. My birthday was fun - but busy. I am sorry for the lack of posts (Aunt Jean), but things will hopefully settle down in the coming days/weeks.

The past two weeks have just been unbearably busy.

We competed at UIL on Monday and Tuesday, and then hosted a UIL contest all day Wednesday and Thursday. These things are just a marathon of preperation and work - and having never done it before juts makes it so much more so.

Contest is over, and I'm spending the weekend in Searcy with Jordan. We're goig to her club's formal tonight, in a few minutes, actually, so I've got to head out now.

Well Put

I echo John Stewart's impressions of the Republican party lately. I just choose my words less profanely.

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	M - Th 11p / 10c
Baracknophobia - Obey
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Real or Fake?

A friend sent me a video link yesterday, and simply asked "You're a music teacher: do you think this is real or a joke?" I watched it several times and was blown away. How could a person who is this off-key and awkward not be self aware? Then again, how talented would this girl have to be to be that convincing as a BAD singer?
Here's the video I saw. Follow the YouTube link if you'd like to receive a "Free Voice Lesson" from Miranda.





I couldn't stop asking myself all day long "is this real?" Does this poor girl really live in her imagination where she is on the brink of bursting into stardom, or his a self-created Florence Foster Jenkins having more fun than anyone else standing back and watching the rest of us scratch our heads.

I did some digging around, and I found this video, of a young actress who attended Azusa Pacific (where Camry goes) and I think I've found a match!



Furthermore, she is now a contract performer with Disney.




Bravo, Colleen, or "Miranda". I enjoy your YouTube performances, both your legit musical numbers and your alter ego the pitiful American Idol reject.