Tonight a group of friends and I went to support a theatre family member who is part of her high school swing/show choir (and her beaming papa as well).  I won’t delve too deeply on the performance, but will say that one of the songs deeply touched me.  I know I have mentioned the beautiful piece entitled “Believe” from the magical movie The Polar Express sung so majestically by Josh Groban.  It has become one of those songs that I HAVE to listen to at least 50 times each holiday season.  It speaks of the magic of dreams and how as people grow older they often lose sight of those dreams.  But just look in the eyes of a child and often you can see, remember, and believe what it was like to be that young and have that wonder inside.  Of course, for some of us that wonder can so easily be reignited or may never have left.  I get goosebumps all over just hearing the song everytime.  Just a chill runs through my entire body.  Maybe those words are trying to tell me something?

The evening also took me back huumanah years to my final holiday concert and the festive medley that the choir sang, entitled Cool Yule.  I don’t remember the entire plot but I do remember that Santa (played by your’s truly) and Mrs. Claus had to rap… and I’m not talking about present wrapping  here.  This was the second time that I had put on the red suit and black boots.  In fifth grade, I was the jolly old elf in our elementary Christmas musical Santa and the Snowmobile in which a slick salesman almost convinces Santa to abandon his team of eight tiny reindeer for a gas-propelled vehicle.  I do remember doing some improvising as the sound of the snowmobile was not properly cued.  I think I gave the cardboard cutout a good swift quick and said to heck with it.  This was long before you-know-who or I would have uttered a quick you-know-what.

Children sleeping, snow is softly falling
Dreams are calling like bells in the distance
We were dreamers not so long ago
But one by one we all had to grow up
When it seems the magic’s slipped away
We find it all again on Christmas day

Believe in what your heart is saying
Hear the melody that’s playing
There’s no time to waste
There’s so much to celebrate
Believe in what you feel inside
And give your dreams the wings to fly
You have everything you need
If you just believe

Trains move quickly to their journey’s end
Destinations are where we begin again
Ships go sailing far across the sea
Trusting starlight to get where they need to be
When it seems that we have lost our way
We find ourselves again on Christmas day

Believe in what your heart is saying
Hear the melody that’s playing
There’s no time to waste
There’s so much to celebrate
Believe in what you feel inside
And give your dreams the wings to fly
You have everything you need
If you just believe
If you just believe
If you just believe
If you just believe
Just believe
Just believe

Ok… look at those words.  Definitely.  Not just on Christmas Day.

One of my not so graceful moments took place after a high school football game.  My cousin and I were riding in the back of my brother’s pickup while my parents were in the front driving.  While riding, I was wrapped up in the sousaphone that I played in the marching band.  Why I had it on still is a mystery to me.  We were turning a corner and all of a sudden… falling over the side was a body wrapped up in a sousaphone.  My cousin yelled “Stop!”  Mom came running out of the truck to make sure I was all right… yelling at dad because he went around the corner too fast.  Actually, I think the instrument took most of the damage.  I was more worried about what Mrs. Curtis was going to say Monday about the condition of the horn (she was more worried about me, of course).  To this day, everyone who was involved or knows about the incident gets a chuckle.  Shortly after we got back to the school, Chad, Dan, and I left for Columbus where we met my oldest brother, Jeff,  to go to Cleveland the next day where the Buckeyes were playing a special game.  On the way to Columbus, I had an ice pack over my head.  AH, YOUTH.

I am not one for searching out a play and just reading if for the sake of reading it.  Funny that… I love theatre, I am on a play-reading committee at my local theatre, but yet I find reading plays a chore.  However, give me a script to memorize or audition for and…. ZAP… I’m right there.  Plays are meant to be performed anyway… not read for leisure.

In my efforts to help the theatre choose a season for the 2010-2011 season, I came across a remarkable play full of symbolism and allegory.  Entitled The Diviners by Jim Leonard, Jr., it tells the events of a backwater Indiana hicktown (Zion, population…40) one fateful summer.  The lead character is Buddy Layman (age 14 or 17 according to the script).  He is a mentally challenged boy who also is abundantly curious in all things.  He has only one fear (that I could gather from the script).  Ironically, this fear is also his greatest gift to the town.

One of the other major players is C.C. Showers.  He is a 30-year old preacher who has abandoned his congregation in favor of finding a new way of life… in midwest America during the Great Depression.  It is never specifically stated in the script, but I found myself reading more into the plot than was actually there.  But I think there are some moments in which my summation could be proven (as my playscript analysis professor instructed the class to do several times).  But Mr. Showers and Buddy form a bond that ultimately leads the young man to overcome his fear.

I was totally engaged in all of the symbolism in the play.  It had me from the very first page until the very end.  In one sitting, I was able to read, laugh, and believe in the play.  I find it really tragic that I had never heard of the play until recently and definitely will put it on my list for suggestions for the upcoming season.  On a footnote, The Diviners had its professional debut in 1980 and starred Robert MacNaughton as Buddy.  Who is Robert MacNaughton?  He played Eliott’s older brother Michael in E.T. – The Extra-Terrestrial.  Oddly enough, I did remember the character’s name although it was probably said no more than five times the entire movie.

I am happy to say that my dad has returned home and no more scares unless he continues to be a terrible boy.  Monday morning, he decided that he could resume his crossing guard duties at school in the freezing temperatures and snow flurries.  I had a day to sleep in that morning and mom is on the school bus from 6.45-8.00.  Needless to say, there was no one to stop him.  At 10.30 when he should be getting ready for the pre-k students to come and go, he was lying on the couch sleeping.  I tried to revive him, but to no avail.  So at about 2, mom calls the village office to say that he will not be doing the crossing guard until at least Wednesday when he has a follow-up appointment.  I guess it makes sense that they only allow employees of the village do the job or I could have walked out the door and done it just as well.  At three, he attempted to go out the front door to cross the street.  However, I put my foot down and, surprisingly enough, he actually listened.  In the meantime, he is not taking his meds as he should be.  Yesterday, he did not take them AT ALL.  This morning, we asked if he had taken them yet; he did not know which ones to take.  WOOLY SHEEP (I actually said that under my breath!!! Stubborn!!! Send HIM to Liswathistan (kidding).  Hopefully, this doesn’t last long.  But for the most part, he has been resting and allowing his body to recover while driving those around him CRAZY!!  But patience with the patient is sure to win out, eventually.

No, this is not one of the Boy Wonder’s many quips to the Caped Crusader (that I am aware of, anyway).  This comes from the 1994 movie The Fantastic Four.  Never heard of it?  Wasn’t it made more recently than that?  These are not surprising questions.  In the early ’90s a theatrical version of the superhero team nearly made it to the multiplex.  Promotional materials were created (a trailer, movie posters, even a PG rating).  However, it was shelved for one of several reasons that I will not dwell upon.  Instead, I will comment on the film itself without giving too much away.

This is an origin story made on a shoestring budget of $2 million… and boy does it show.  It has a lot in common with the 60s television series from which I took the title of this post.  It also reminds me of another theatrical release of the early 80s: Flash Gordon.  The movie depicts the events in which Dr. Reed Richards, siblings Sue and Johnny Storm, and pilot Ben Grimm all become the super-powered humans they have come to be known.  As well as the creation of the evil Dr. Doom.  Plus, we are introduced to another key element in the comic legend, Alicia Masters.

I had heard of this extremely rare version when the big budget feature was released a few years ago.  However, I had no idea that I would some day get to see it.  It is pure camp made for what in Hollywood terms is peanuts. But for what it is, it is a lot of fun.  Good for an evening of B-movie entertainment.  Plus in a survey it ranked higher than some other not so worthy superhero movies (Batman & Robin for one).

HERE THERE BE SPOILERS (not purposely, but if you have yet to see Quantum of Solace or even have a fresh viewing of Casino Royale behind you, I would skip this post.  And if you are uninterested in either, then I give you permission to skip it all together.

One thing I can say about the new Bond is that it does not lack from the action pieces.  The new movie starts right off with 007 in a battle with a semi and at least three other cars while he is inside his Aston Martin.  The plot picks up mere moments after Casino Royale ended and follows Bond on the trail of a new sinister organization that was responsible for the death of his love, Vesper.  This organization is so all-encompassing and secret that neither CIA nor MI6 know of its existence.  That being said there is almost no one that can be trusted.  The British government has a hard time trusting Bond himself who seems to be on a mission of revenge.  M herself puts a hold on all of his passports, credit cards, etc. making it nearly impossible to move about on his mission.  OK… enough on the plot.

There are several things that I liked about the movie.  Returning players from the previous films: our old friend Felix Leiter from many of the previous films. And Mathis whom you never know where his loyalties lie.  But as he alluded to, the world is full of gray.  Black and white are almost nonexistent in the world today.  I have always liked the series when it travels around the world and this one goes all over.  Battles are fought on land, sea, and air.  And there are two lovelies.  One for strength of character, the other for a bit of eye appeal.

HOWEVER,  and this was a complaint I had with the previous film.  Bond is too serious.  Killing may not be all kicks and giggles, but the best films of the series had some moments of relief from the action.  Few puns, few double entendres.  Daniel Craig is too hard… lighten him up a little at least.  Put some of the fun back into the series.

Final verdict: I would definitely recommend this to fans of the 007 series… of which many seem to be divided.  However, if you are unfamiliar with it, Quantum of Solace definitely is not the film to start with.  I have a difficult time suggesting which film to go to when asked by novices.  I was introduced with For Your Eyes Only and was thrilled from then on.  Perhaps one or two of my faithful readers can suggest a jumping off point.  A few of us have favorites but is that a good place to start?

That’s right!! This weekend on two different channels broadcast from the same city, they are having a Holiday Music Preview in preparation for their annual 24/7 marathon of merriment which begings the day after turkey and all the way through December 25th.  One of the tunes is one in a long series of parodies to the immortal classic “The Twelve Days of Christmas.”  Entitled “The Twleve Pains of Christmas,’ Bob Rivers and his Chorus (thank you to the digital radio dispplay that lists the title, artist, and year (on occasion) lists the things that most annoy them about the season.  One of the voices is a dead ringer for Archie Bunker who hates hangovers.  While I do love carols, novelty songs, all the best in Christmas melodies, it IS TOO EARLY for them.  I can only imagine the people who listen to the All Christmas Channels All The Time All Year Long (of which there is at least one.  I have also heard some of my favorites already which I had to give listen to.  “Snoopy’s Christmas,”(Snoopy vs. The Red Baron… nothing to do with A Charlie Brown Christmas)  “Hippopatamus For Christmas,” “Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer.”  I will post later about some of my favorite traditional carols down the road.  OK, OK… admittedly, I have not changed my car radio all weekend, but I still do think it is too early.  So, I think my title should be included in a new take on the song.

Tonight, a great friend and I went to see my niece and nephew in their elementary school’s production of Schoolhouse Rock, Live! Ok, so it was the juniorfied version of the show. phooey!  A year ago our community theatre did a production of the full 21 song-filled show in which I was the central character, Mr. Mizner, on his first day as a teacher.  The 80 kids on stage tonight delivered a very fun, energetic (but shortened) version.  The kids were broken down into four groups each of which were on stage in turn  during certain songs (you try putting 80 kids on stage at the same time).  I attempted to find my two stars and easily spotted Elizabeth when she was on stage.  However, my godson, Joshua, decided to hide himself whenever possible.  BUT, I did catch him getting into the dances a few times.

I was pretty impressed with the work put into the show.  Lots of high energy (as it should be) and choreography that even I could have done.  There were only eleven of the songs from the full version present.  I was surprised that “Lolly, Lolly, Lolly” was not included.  I thought that the kids could have done a good job with that and had fun.  Most disappointing, to me anyway, was the absence of “The Tale of Mr. Morton.”  But, as Megan pointed out repeatedly… “It’s the JUNIOR version… j-u-n-i-o-r!!!”  I thought… ok, but… I don’t see why I got to sing the song and the young man playing Tom did not.  THAT IS HIS BIG NUMBER.  I would have been disappointed if I were him and did not get to sing it.  The kid did a good job in the part, but he could have shown a little bit more apprehension at the beginning.

Tonight’s version of “Do the Circulation” featured a soloist resembling Elvis Presley singing the song and doing some moves.  This was a fun bit, but I liked our idea of turning the cast members into gym equipment (treadmills, weight benches, etc) and having the kids in the choir operate them.  Since our version had a female singing the song, it would not have worked.

I also missed the added dialog that our wonderfully gifted and talented director and awesome friend added to the show for a more cohesive and flowing plot.  Tonight, the constant raising and lowering of the lights between each song was at times tedious but I don’t suppose there was anyway around it with all the kids coming on and off stage.  I wonder how many parents had to be behind the scenes to corral all 80 of them.  Carol… could you have done THAT by yourself?  You only had 30 to work with.  Here is your chance to COMMENT on our blogs… hmmm.

A fun evening although our plan to eat at the Olive Garden before the show did not work out.  Promise Megan that we will go there reaaaaaaly soon… thanks for coming.  And you can comment, too.  I know you are both out there reading and lurking in the shadows 🙂 .

Tonight saw the return of our semi-regular game night.  I will not comment on the night itself but on one of the challenges I was asked to perform outside of the games.  Somehow, we got off on the tangent of James Bond.  I was asked to list all of the villains in the 21 (now 22) OFFICIAL films.  In order to set the challenger’s mind at ease (or else to illustrate my Bond geekiness) i will attempt to do just that and throw in a few henchmen where I can.

1. Dr. No (the title character… no real henchman, unless you include Professor Dent)
2. From Russia With Love (Kronstein (sp?), Rosa Klebb and her boot, and “Red” Grant with his evil watch, plus the first appearance of Ernst Stavro Blofeld… some of him… and his white pussy… cat)
3. Goldfinger (Auric Goldfinger and his industrial laser beam “that emits a light not to be found in nature” that nearly dessicates 007s manhood and his man servant, Oddjob with his bowler)
4. Thunderball (Emilio Largo… and again some of SPECTRE Number 1, Blofeld)
5. You Only Live Twice (Blofeld’s first full on screen role along with the beautiful but deadly Helga Brandt)
6. On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (Blofeld back for more along with the evil Irma Bunt… NOT SO LOVELY)
7. Diamonds Are Forever (Blofeld yet again along with the strange duo of Mr. Wynt and Mr. Kidd)
8. Live and Let Die (Dr. Kananga/Mr. Big, along with his gang of voodoo worshiping henchmen and woman)
9. The Man with the Golden Gun (Francisco Scaramanga aka… the title character with henchman Knick Knack (who you may remember as the little guy who played Tattoo on Fantasy Island)
10. The Spy Who Loved Me (Karl Stromberg and the first appearance of steel-toothed giant Jaws)
11. Moonraker (Hugo Drax plus Jaws gets a Dolly)
12. For Your Eyes Only (Aristotle Kristatos)
13. Octopussy (Kamal Khan played by Louis Jordan since someone asked… plus Mad General Orloff… I don’t consider Octopussy and her bevy of beauties to be true villains)
14. A View to a Kill (Max Zorin and May Day… deplorable)
15. The Living Daylights (General Koskov and Brad Whitaker (played by Joe Don Baker who would return in later films as a CIA agent)
16. License to Kill (Franz Sanchez and Milton Krest… plus an appearance by Wayne “Figgy” Newton)
17. GoldenEye (Alec Trevelyan and Xenia Onatopp who likes it onatopp… literally)
18. Tomorrow Never Dies (Elliot Carver and Mr. Stamper)
19. The World is Not Enough (Elektra King and Renard)
20. Die Another Day (Gustav Graves, Zao, and the most iconic name of any henchman, Mr. Kill)
21. Casino Royale (Le Chiffre… who once again nearly brings Bond’s manhood to an end)
22. Quantum of Solace (have yet to see)

Ok… ok… say what you will I can handle the jabs.  And, no I do not sit around and watch a Bond movie every night although most of them (with maybe 5 exceptions) are better than anything on television with the exception of Thursday nights and Saturday and Sunday afternoons).  Now… how many did I cheat on?  Honestly, Two.  Maybe next time I should go through the names of the Bond babes.  My favorite villain:  I really enjoy Goldfinger’s over the top character and evil scheme.  Thank you Mom and Dad for introducing me years ago when I used sneak down and ended up sitting at the top of the stairs and listening when they would play on regular tv (edited for broadcast and all) past my bedtime.

My dad got home from the hosptial this afternoon (HOORAY!!).  I think Mom was getting annoyed driving the 45 minutes to see him sleep and mumble through the day.  Yesterday, the doctor was concerned that Dad’s blood pressure was erratic (at times high at others low).  Mom asked the doctor when he might be coming home and he just looked at her as if to say… “You must be joking.”  So today, after her shortened day in the beauty shop, she set out again.  Apparently, Dad was better, blood pressure stablized, everything good.  Being a good boy for a change.  Terrible patient.  When I got home from work, it was as if he hadn’t just gotten out of the hospital.  He was walking around, bending over, picking things up off the floor.  I asked Mom if he should be doing this.  The only restriction he has is on driving.  I will not be surprised to see him go across the street tomorrow to do his school crossing guard duty.  The town was SUPPOSED to get someone to do it for him the last 4 days, but I was informed that some of the time no one was there… How nice.  It’s like I’m sure the whole town knows what is going on with him (the town is not that big) plus Mom called yesterday to tell them that e would not be doing it today.  Oh, well… at least he is home and things will get back to normal… whatever that is.  BTW… thank you all for the warm wishes and support.  Knowing that all my loyal friends and readers are thinking of us sure helps a lot… you are all “The Best.”