no more coming back for “just one more thing”.

Yesterday (24/jun/2011) Actor Peter Falk died. I don’t normally write about the death of actors, but Peter Falk was one of my favorites. I loved the frumpy detective he played in Columbo and The Cheap Detective or even Murder by Death. His characters were similar, but they all had great depth. A man who seemed to know his craft and he did it well. I think later I will dig out my copy of one of the movies he was in, just to remember. I think I will need to pick up a season or two of Columbo, because there is “just one more thing”…

Well… yesterday was another voice lesson.  It went much better than last week’s meeting… perhaps it was because I focused on 4 or 5 pieces I have been working on since almost the beginning.  Once again, a deceptively simple song is one of the most problematic (well… the last part of it is rhythmically tricky, but will come).  Another piece, I need to find that spot of greatest emotional impact.  I KNOW where it needs to be but need to back off just a bit on some of those other big moments.  I have to skip next week as the j-o-b asked me to come in an hour early on Thursday.

Today, I had my first follow up with the doctor.  He seems to think all is well…. progressing nicely.  He asked me what I have been doing… how long I am on my feet each day, etc.  Well… given my current job, I am on my feet probably 95% of the time. I have been taking short walks as the seasons have changed but not quite up to the 3-4 mile hikes I was accustomed to taking but those will come in time.  As we have both commented, “I miss my walking buddy.”  I told the nurse, who lives two houses south of me, that I didn’t think that trying out for The Wizard of Oz or Annie was such a good idea.  Once again, I did bring up the idea of trying out for Roosevelt and brought a chuckle.  But I have been going to my weekly voice lesson so once my leg is closer to 100% I will once again be doing something.  The actual appointment was nothing more than hearing things I had already known.  He did feel my leg and commented that it is still a bit tight.  I guess his prescribed 4 month check was nothing more than witnessing my charming personality 😀 KIDDING… I know it is necessary but doesn’t hurt to display that indelible Jamiahsh charm.

Apparently, the end is just the beginning when it comes to the Harry Potter verse.  July 15th will see the final cinematic adventure take place.  BUT in October will come a website known as “Pottermore” created by J. K. Rowling herself.  The content of the site is being held under wraps (for now, the site is “Coming Soon”).  Speculation by fans ranges from an online community full of message boards and chat rooms (hopefully it is not that… do we really need another social network?) to the e-book release of the seven novels to an on-line game of the world of Harry Potter.   HMMM… the site has changed even since a few days ago when I heard of the site.

I’m of two minds on this.  I’m not sure that this is not an attempt to bleed every drop out of the franchise… too much of a good thing and all that.  However, if it is what the fans want… I guess it will be worth at least a peek once it is fully presented.

OK… I am about to illustrate my profound geekiness (or my wealth of Useless Knowledge, you decide).  Way back in the mid to late 1970s, it seemed like at least two of the big three networks (remember those days?) had at least one live-action superhero show on the air.  ABC had The Six Million Dollar Man which lead to the Bionic Woman (which jumped ship to NBC for its third and final season… told you I was going to demonstrate my geekiness ;).  Over on CBS, you had The Incredible Hulk, Wonder Woman (which ABC tried for a season by putting the story in the original WWII time frame), and The Amazing Spider-Man.

The Hulk and Wonder Woman are much easier to track down than your friendly neighborhood web-crawler for a number of reasons.  Sad to say the budget for the live-action Spider-Man was not over the top.  After locating several of the 14 episodes via youtube, the special effects definitely showed the lack of money put to it.  The crawling up and down buildings left much to be desired and to save even more money, stock footage from the pilot episode would be used.  Funny, but what finally spelled Spidey’s doom was not the cheesy effects but CBS’ self-described fear of becoming THE Superhero Network.  The Amazon Princess and the arachnid were given the ax while The Hulk continued on into the early 80s.

HOWEVER, this was not Spider-Man’s first appearance as a live-action hero. Beginning in 1974, he was seen in short live action bits on the children’s series The Electric Company.

Here is a Great pseudo cross-over Spider-Man episode tied with a classic episode with another series:

And here is an Electric Company short.  Guess the voice of the narrator:

Ok… enough geekiness for one day. I won’t go further by saying that Nicholas Hammond also played Fredrick (the oldest Von Trapp male child) in The Sound of Music… although I think I just did.

One of the activities that’s been keeping me so busy lately is the Beth Moore Bible study I’m attending on Mondays, called Jesus The One and Only.  It’s great; I’m learning a lot, getting to know other women from my church, and it gets me and the kids out of the house for a few hours every Monday morning.  The kids can blow off some steam while I go through the workbook with my small group and watch the dvd.  A fun class, but there is a side effect of all the learning: homework.  Our workbook is divided into weekly sessions, and there are 5 days of homework for every week’s lesson.  Each day has about 4-5 pages of homework that involves creative thinking and looking up passages in the Bible, contemplating them, comparing them, and answering thought-provoking questions.  Time-wise, it’s intense, especially for this pregnant mother of 4.  This is the 3rd week of class, and so far I’ve been able to get all my homework finished on time and am really enjoying it.  I struggled a bit at first with the stress of trying to find those extra hour 5 days a week that I was sure I didn’t have, but I’m managing and reaping the rewards.  Before I begin today’s homework, I thought I’d share some things that I’ve highlighted in my workbook.

Before I do that, however, I will recap in a nutshell what the study itself is all about: Jesus.  We began our discussions talking about Mary, and Beth Moore is really great at delving more deeply into things and encouraging the student to give more thought.  We talked about what Mary might have been like as a young Jewish woman (Mary was probably around 13 or 14 when  she was told she was about to carry the Lord’s child  – did you know she was that young?  I didn’t!), and we talked about her pregnancy (of particular interest to me right now), her thoughts and feelings, her journey to see her cousin Elizabeth, and then we moved on to talking about Jesus himself.  We talked about him as a baby, a child, and about how he was led into the desert, all while relating it to our own lives.  Some of Beth Moore’s statements that stuck out to me in the workbook are:

God seems to love little more than stunning the humble with His awesome intervention.

Seasons of intense temptation are not indications of God’s displeasure.

God emphasized that the road to redemption would be costly and confrontational.

Luke was the only Gentile God inspired to write a Gospel.

God allows circumstances to exist in our lives that drive us to dependency on Him.

God is far too faithful to let anyone make it through life without confronting seasons of utter helplessness.

The good news Christ may want to preach to you today is that you don’t have to subsist.  You  were meant to thrive.

I’m quite sure if my healing process had been painless, I would have relapsed.

Many people sincerely love God, but I don’t think anyone stands to appreciate the unfailing love of God like the believer finally set free from failure.

On Thursday, I purchased my “new” car.  As another of our tangenteers surmised it is indeed a 2002 Honda CR-V complete with slide out table in the back.  I was informed that Edy would be at the shop and then she and “Big” John would go to the bank and sign the title over to me.  After this, I took a trip to the DMV and paid the taxes.  The lady at the desk looked up at me and said “Two seventy five” and I reached in my wallet and handed her a $20.00 in all seriousness.  She looked at me and said, “Nice try.”  I had a good chuckle and made out my check for the correct amount.

A rather historic tale goes along with this purchase.  Last week, I was informed that nearly 38 years ago I was driven home in a Firebird owned by the same couple from whom I bought the CR-V.  On that day, my mom was ready to bring her third newborn son home.  Instead of waiting for dad to come which would have added another day on our stay at the hospital, she called Edy and she took me on my first car trip.

Along with this purchase comes certain provisos:

• I am to inform everyone that it was previously driven twice a week (to church on Sundays and to the beauty parlor on Thursdays)
• It is to be waxed twice a year and all the chrome and interior looking like new.
• No alcohol (in my present state, I am forbidden to drink and even if I were not, I would not have it open in any car I own… and neither would passengers)

A nice little car… and it doesn’t even feel like it is much different than driving my old Sunfire… may she rest in peace.

I learned in my young adult life that there was a lot of good things to learn from Children’s books. These books have good things to teach children and, if you let them, adults. As you read to a child, make sure you pay attention to all of the things these books have to say.

I enjoyed reading to my girls, but I really enjoyed sitting back and listening while my wife read to each daughter. From the works of various authors we learn that life can be fun, sad, scary and comforting.

Through stories, you learn that you shouldn’t touch things that do not belong to you. While in real life the town does not fill up with pasta, things can break and that could hurt someone you care about.

You learn that being polite should be a good habit and not something you need written on your hands. You learn that good friends can have fights and still be friends.

Sometimes bunnies do the wrong things, but they find that their mother still loves them. Yes, I’ve learned a lot over the years just from reading children’s books. More than I can remember, but maybe after some bread and jam, I will try something new.

I now have my set list for my little weekender.  I’m sure it is too late to submit until fall arrives as they usually take the summer off… or have the last few years.  Today at my lesson, I informed K that I had made a few changes… deleted a few songs and replaced them with others and whittled my list down from about 15 to 10.  Some of them require a second voice… so be on the look out for a request those of you who would be willing (I know at least one tangenteer who I will not ask… upon pain of torture or worse).  One of my new additions was a spark of hilarity.  I have had the song in the back of my mind since I began.  K was not familiar with the song until we had gone through it a few times.  She was in her husband’s car listening to the satellite radio when it came over the air.  After hearing it for the very first time she exclaimed… “Now THAT is a Jamiah piece!”  So glad she agrees.  And it even went fairly well for a lesson in sight singing.

In other news, I must wish a Happy Birthday… in case I don’t make a post tomorrow… to a GREAT friend!  The last few months have not been the greatest for me personally and our Wonderful admin has been right there for me every gimpy step of the way.  Definitely not the only one who has been but I thank God every day for his wisdom, guidance, and above all his friendship.  Happy Birthday, C!

Almost 10 years ago, my father left this world, almost exactly one year after mom. Today would have been his birthday. Sometimes I couldn’t remember the date, but I knew it was always near fathers’ day.

Just a short little post to remember someone I loved and admired. They didn’t make many like him.

“Papa I don’t think I said ‘I love you’ near enough”
—- leader of the band — Dan Fogelberg

Nope, not nearly enough…

It just figures.  The show I would prefer to be in starts its run first, so it would only be natural that its auditions would be first, right?  Of course not.  The runs are actually close, with the closing weekend of the one being the opening of the other.  If you were to read into that statement you would undoubtedly conclude that no, I can’t just do both shows.  Not that I am in the mind to rehearse two shows at once anyway.  Tried that, not my cup of tea.  Not that I like tea mind you.  So before I get off track, Dracula auditions are- guess what- an entire month before the start of rehearsals.  Interesting- I wonder why?  Oh well, I went ahead and scheduled my audition time, which will be two weeks from tonight.  On recommendation from a friend and fellow blogger, I will try out with Renfield as my primary focus.  They don’t mind singing  a song from the show for the audition piece I’m told- what does that mean though?  They prefer it and are trying to be aloof about it to see what I will choose to do?  Or they would really rather I didn’t?  Well, I could start preparing The Master’s Song, but since I will have an entire week where I can’t practice it, I will probably do something from Jekyll & Hyde for two reasons- I know it well and it is by Frank Wildhorn just as Dracula is.  I’m thinking about two different songs.  Alive is a definite character piece, but the best place to start is after the instrumental interlude which skips any slower parts.  Wait- there are no slower sections in that song…  But- the end of the song goes way up just like the end of The Master’s Song.  The other song I was thinking of is I Need to Know.  Not a character piece, and done by a somewhat sane Dr. Jekyll, but it does have a mix of slower and faster.  In this song I would start with the second verse, so I wouldn’t start with the really slow part.  32 bars would also end before the key change, so I couldn’t really show off range.  Still, it just seems like a better audition piece for some reason.  Which to do?

And what to do if I do make the show, but in a smaller role?  Quitting to be in another show would just kill any future with the group, so making this show in any capacity will certainly mean no to Noah.  That show is, BTW, still a complete mystery.  Four male parts, but at my age would I even be considered for Noah’s sons?  Of course, Noah was a ripe old 600 years old when the floods came, and his sons couldn’t have been far behind.  But still, it’s likely there will be an age limit for them, so that would leave me with a chance for only one role.  I just wish I could audition for that role first.  Maybe the Dracula group will deliberate for several weeks giving time to audition and find out about a role in Noah, and drop out before the role offer comes?  Who knows?  We’ll see.