Flashback
So I'm driving today listening to my beloved
XM radio. Flipping stations and come upon one of the great one hit wonder tunes, "All I Need" by then "General Hospital" now "The Bold and Beautiful" star
Jack Wagner. This lovely, cheesy song was a hit back in 1984. That was the peak of my GH watching days, Frisco Jones was really cute and well, it all worked at the time. It got me thinking about another one hit wonder "Take My Breath Away" sung by Rex Smith.
Dissolve to three hours later, back in the car and listening to XM channel 7, The 70's. Guess what song is on? Yup,
"You Take My Breath Away" so I had to listen. I remember the silly TV movie that this came from. It was called
"Sooner or Later" (I IMBD'd the title of that one) but I do remember that the movie had to do with him being cute and a teenage girl fell in love with him and if I recall correctly, they got together. Hello! Jailbait. This was in 1979 and I can't believe that this subject matter would float in today's TV world but you can enjoy
this piece of memorabilia today on DVD. Then again, I don't think shows like "James at 15" or any of the Afterschool Specials would be produced today either. Too openly explicit and controversial for the conservative mindset of America these days. Isn't that weird that certain topics were dealt with (like teenagers losing their virginity) easier 10 and 20 years ago than now but I digress. Anyway, have you actually listened to the lyrics? There aren't any! It made me laugh. For your reading pleasure:
You
I don't know what to say
You take my breath away
You're every song I sing
You're the music that I play
And you take my breath away
You
You smile and it's okay
You take my breath away
Like water from a stream
On a sizzling summer day
You take my breath away
There are words for the magic of a sunrise
Only none of them will do for you.
And then You Take My Breath Away gets repeated about 17 times (it felt like 50). Ah, they don't write lyrics like that any more. Had to share.
Labels: Jack Wagner, music lyrics, Rex Smith, SM Racio
And the winners are...
First of all, as hoped, Jordin Sparks is this year's American Idol. I think she's terrific in every way and have been rooting for her since the Top 9 or 10. It would've been a better music competition had Melinda been the other finalist but I won't go into that. I'll just congratulate Jordin on being an amazing singer who grew and got better every single week. I voted for her about 150 times last night.
And the other winner might be the Anaheim Ducks who beat the Detroit Red Wings last night to make it to the Stanley Cup Finals and will meet the Ottawa Senators. You have to realize as a Los Angeles Kings fan, I have to hate the Ducks which, to be honest, I do. However, I really don't like the Senators and want to see them self-destruct. The Ducks have been a great team from day 1 and deserve to be where they are. They have an amazing team and it would be really nice to see Teemu Selanne's name on the Cup. And for the record, had Detroit made it to the Finals, I'd be rooting for them over Ottawa as well. If the Ducks win, it might be good for So Cal hockey which would be nice for the Kings. But then again, the Kings ownership sucks the big one and they don't get it so it probably won't help the Kings to be a better hockey club. Oh well. So, much to my chagrin, I say Go Ducks!
Overwhelmed (sorry, it's long. I'm venting)
I'm sure someone out there is wondering where I am. Anyone? Anyone? Bueller? It's been a very crazy, insane, stressful time. There's a lot going on and I'll try to update without boring anyone to tears. Then again, this is a good archive for me so humor me.
Where to begin. Let's work kind of backwards in time. My FIL had a minor stroke last night. He's doing well all things considered. He's got a little bit of slurred speech, and he's got some problems with his fine motor skills on his right side but the prognosis is good with a little bit of physical therapy. Now it's just a matter of stabilizing and all should be just fine. After calling 911, he was at the hospital within 30 minutes which of course, every minute at the beginning improves the chances of good recovery. Thank goodness for his wife Marie. Not only is she a nurse, she's a wonderful lady. Wish she'd let me help and come up to visit and just keep her company, hey that's family is for, but we'll go up over the weekend and do what we can then. She knows I'm only 45 minutes away and can be up there at a moment's notice. Still, that was a little scary last night but thank G-d he's doing much better today.
There's plenty of crap going on with various issues at the Directors Guild. I was reelected to the AD/SM/PA Council for a full 2 year term. I was previously an alternate having taken a few years off. I was a Council member for 8 or 10 years going back to 1992 when I first became a member. There's a lot of stuff going on with our live/variety shows and we need to protect our jurisdiction and work days. So having gotten back involved last August with a specific show problem, I've jumped back in two big feet first in terms of getting entrenched. On a few committees, been in a few private issue meetings, bla bla bla. So lots of emails are taking up my time and just trying to keep everyone informed on what's going on in the "real" world.
C's school situation has been a nightmare for the past 3 weeks. OMG, I don't even know where to begin. Part of it goes back to January when the Temple decided that they're going to ultimately merge the two campuses into one at the Tarzana location. At that time, we brought up the potential that C's class would be small for the fall and just didn't want to find out in August that it's too small to be economically feasible. This has continued since the first of the year. Dissolve to three weeks ago when we had the "sales pitch" meeting to tell us all about the Gesher (advanced pre-K) program and how amazing the one teacher, Aviva, is. We, the parents at that meeting, said we'd do our research and make our decisions and the school director promised check with the other pre-k eligible class to determine who, if anyone, would be old enough and ready to join our class to help make the class size more realistic. At the time there were only 5 out of 9 kids in her class staying for next year. In the meantime, G and I have been researching the prospect of going to a local private Jewish Day school. We both grew up in public schools and really believe in them, assuming there are decent school options, which we do in our neighborhood. But we did the application and the tours to check out this school to make sure we had options since the situation at West was changing hourly. We both really liked the school and can see the benefit of how their program could really benefit C and her personality. I wouldn't say that for every kid or every one of my kids (if I'm that lucky) but for C in particular, it could be a really nice fit for her to flourish. So yet another option to weigh.
Now, jump to last week and the one kid we've all been having troubles with, her mom tells me that she's moving her daughter to the Tarzana campus. Yay that C won't be in a class with her and her meanness for next year but boo that we've lost yet another child. In the meantime, a bunch of us moms are still talking and trying to figure out exactly who could or would be in this one year plan Gesher class for next year. Yesterday, I got a phone call from the Director telling me that there will officially NOT be a Gesher class at C's West campus and that C and another boy in her class are invited/encouraged to come to Gesher at Tarzana. Now it's decision time.
I have to tell you that the last three weeks have been unbelievably stressful. The situation and who's in, who's out, go here, go there has changed almost hourly. Each scenario makes perfect sense at that moment. The pros and cons are endless, the "what if's" are endless. The only "good" thing is that fact that a decision was made at West. For 3 weeks, we've been spinning our wheels without any guidance or information from the administration. It was really unfair and I'm still quite angry at being jerked around. None of the things that were promised to be looked into were and there's been little or no communication from the Director other than "have you made any decisions?" Hey, I paid my deposit. Stop asking what my intentions are. I gave you money. So now we have to decide which is a better situation. Going to Tarzana where C'll know a bunch of kids going in, the Rabbis are the same, the philosophy is the same but it's still a different school. It would also buy us a year in determining exactly what we want to do for elementary school - public or private since she's only got one more year of pre-school anyway. Or do we dive into private school. This school is terrific and C would do well there and it makes sense to get in on the ground floor. If it turns out that it's too religious or we're not comfortable or whatever, we could still pull her at the end of TK (they call it transitional kindergarten) and still enroll her in public school for K. Of course, if we love it and are sucked in, it's a huge financial commitment for private school and it's just not something we initially planned on. I have no doubt that C will have a fantastic year at either place so that's not really a factor. But it's just a big decision no matter which way we go. So it's no wonder that I've had more to drink in the last 3 weeks because of stress than I have in the last 3 years. If anyone reading this diatribe has an opinion, please share. It's pretty much been whoever blows in my ear at that moment is where I lean and right now G and I are pretty much split 50-50. We're not leaning either way which is what's making this so difficult.
So that's been pretty much all consuming. Haven't slept much. G's been VERY busy with work. The finale of "American Idol" has just concluded on the East Coast. Haven't heard who's won but I sure hope it was Jordin. Love her and have from early on. I hope America got it right this time since I still can't say the name Taylor Hicks without spitting. G's on his way to NY tonight for two days for rehearsals for the Tony Awards. He comes home for the weekend and then off to NY again on Monday night for two weeks for the whole show of the Tony Awards. I start work on a silly show for Spike TV. More on that as it unfolds. It'll make for some good blogging. Let's just say "Guys' Choice Awards". Think pole dancers. Anyway, G comes home the morning after the Tony's and goes right to the Daytime Emmy's which I will have also started by then. He's got a few days off after that before starting BET Awards, goes on a golf trip the next day and then back to NJ for the Live Earth concert. So he's pretty much on the run until July 8. Oh and at some point, I'll start "Big Brother 8". Crazy, crazy time.
Are you drinking yet? Has this post blurred your vision? Perhaps if you had a drink it would become clearer for your eyes. Anyway, that's pretty much it. I did take a scrapbook workshop last weekend (3 projects) from my favorite designer
Teresa Collins. I'll save that for another entry and will have a few photos to post accordingly.
Thanks for listening. Thanks for your support.
Humor me
Two of the most important things in my life are scrapbooking and ice hockey. I saw these acrylic stamps back at CHA in January and just knew I had to have them. I've been stalking the
Gel-a-Tins website and finally, they've been released. It doesn't get much better than this. For me anyway.
Labels: hockey, scrapbooking
Happy Mother's Day
I hope all of you had a wonderful Mother's Day filled with love and maybe a little sleep. Mine started off well. I was able to sleep in until about 11AM. Ah, pure luxury. Then C and G came in with pressies for me. I got a lovely jewelry box
and earring/necklace holder
that C picked out all by herself. G gave me a GC for some new sunglasses which I desperately need. And C made for me a "Happy Mother's Day" banner that she made in school and sponge painted all by herself.
She's so proud. She also made the heart and answered some questions about her mom. Here are her answers:
My mom smells like
flowers.I love the way my mom
types on the computer. (not sure how good that makes me look but I'll go with it)I love to
do scrapbooks with my mom. (that's my girl!)
My mom makes me feel happy.
My mom is the best mommy ever.
Love, Carly
It was quite the perfect Mother's Day for me.
It's about time too...
I *FINALLY* finished reading
"Wicked". Remember, way back at the first of the year I had the goal of reading 10 books this year. I know not a big goal for some but for me, something to start with. I whipped through the first book of the year (the title escapes me right now) and then started the much anticipated reading of my beloved show "Wicked". Well, almots 5 months later, I finished the darn thing. It wasn't that the book wasn't interesting, it was (mostly) but it definitely was a dense story. In many ways, it was nothing like the musical. That's not unusual when you read a book and the movie is different, but the book to this musical is really different. Different in tone, different is storylines stuff like that. It took about halfway through for it to become a page turner for me and then, still, I didn't read it so quickly. I'm glad I read it. I needed to read the book to fulfill my overall "Wicked" obsession, but didn't love the book like I love the musical and know every word by heart.
On to the next. I'm now reading a book written by a friend called
"The Ultimate Reality Show" by Clay Jacobsen. He's a director I've known and worked with for about 15 years. Really nice guy and this is, I think, his 5th book. He's a Christian writer and yes, I'm Jewish and have found all his books really terrific stories and the religion part not too over the top for those who aren't of the Christian persuasion. After the darkness of "Wicked", I needed a book that I knew I could just enjoy, page turn and get through quickly and easily. I just started it but it's kicks right in and I'm liking it so far. I'll post when I'm done.
I'm hoping to join in a book club that the mom's at school are starting. Really casual every 8 weeks or so but it'll be a good push to read more and hey, get out of the house for myself every once in awhile right? I've got a pile of books by my bed that I want to read so hopefully this will motivate me to keep plugging along and make that pile smaller.
Happy Mother's Day one and all! Especially to my sister who's celebrating her FIRST Mother's Day. Very special indeed!
Inspirational Songs
And I'm not plugging the most recent
Dove Awards...
So I was talking to my sister about last week’s “inspirational songs” theme on
“American Idol” last week. These were the songs performed during “Idol Gives Back” shows. We mentioned that we liked Chris’ version of “Change the World” although I will admit that I’m actually partial to the Wynonna version over Eric Clapton. Still, it’s a beautiful song and he did ok with it. I thought Phil butchered the Garth Brooks song. When the judges went off on Lakisha singing the Fantasia song and that they could only hear Fantasia’s version, that’s how I felt about Phil’s version of “The Change”. I remember working on the American Music Awards and Garth performed this song with footage from the tragic Oklahoma City Bombings in the screen behind him. You could hear a pin drop. Nothing can compare to Garth’s emotion singing that song. I thought Phil sounded like he was doing a Harry Connick Jr. impression. I’m not a Phil fan. And Jordin was unbelievable singing “You’ll Never Walk Alone”. Of course, remember I have 17 years of Jerry Lewis singing that song in my head to compare to but she was unreal. THAT’S how that song is supposed to be sung. We didn’t care for Blake singing “Imagine” but I don’t like the song to begin with. Blasphemy, I realize but I’ve never been a huge John Lennon fan and I feel like that song is trotted out a little too often. Right up there with Whitney Houston’s “I Will Always Love You” and Bette Midler singing “Wind Beneath My Wings”, if I never heard any of these songs again, that would be ok. A little trivia for your fans of the Idoldome. Had Sanjaya not gotten the boot the previous wee, he was possibly going to sing “Wind Beneath My Wings”. See? God does exist.
Anyway, we were talking about what songs we’d sing if we had to perform on “Idol” songs that inspired us. Here are a few that I came up with that inspire and mean something to me. The links will take you to the lyrics if you’re remotely curious
“For Good” from “Wicked”. Do you think they’d let me sing a duet? It probably wouldn’t be a good choice for me to sing since I can’t sing it in my car (or hear it performed) without crying. The lyrics to that song mean so much to me.
“From a Distance”. Okay, hokey Bette Midler song from the early 90’s but the lyrics are still beautiful. Just as sugary as “Wind Beneath My Wings” for sure but still less likely to put you into a complete diabetic coma.
“The River”. This is one of my top 3 or 4 Garth Brooks tunes. Definitely a moving, life altering lyric. I love this song.
“Right Now” by Van Halen. If you’ve ever seen the video with all sorts of stats of things that are happening “right now”, it’s a great song with a great beat. Now this song would’ve been a cool song for someone to sing on “Idol”. Way different and out there from all the obvious power ballads, but I would’ve really liked to have seen that song performed. It’s definitely an inspiring “get off your butt and do something” song.
Those were the first songs that came to mind. What songs inspire you? Please share.
Labels: American Idol, Garth Brooks, Jerry Lewis, Wicked
10 (more) weird things about me...
I've been tagged by Lisa (via Bucket) to list 10 weird things about me. It’s taken me a few days to come up with the last few. With the previously posted lists, I figure you pretty much all the weird things about me and I’m sure someone out there could add quite a few that I’ve forgotten... but here we go, in no particular order... (and I will admit I’m stealing two from Lisa)
1 - I can’t go to sleep unless I put Aquafor on my lips and lotion on my hands. My lips are dry by the morning and it’s just my routine (Lisa is the same)
2 - I can’t eat leftovers. Yes, the food is good. It was good the first time but with the exception of pizza, eating a meal a second time in 24 hours does not appeal to me at all (another in agreement with Lisa).
3 - I cannot sleep in an unmade bed. Something about the covers being neat or something but if I come home and the bed’s not been made (about once every 2 years) I’ll make the bed before I crawl into it.
4 - I don’t like and won’t eat raw carrots, tuna fish or coconut. Shredded carrots in a salad I can deal with as well as a good pina colada on occasion. Tuna Fish - never.
5 - I try to be an avid reader but it’s a big struggle. I do have this thing that once I get past page 40, I’m “into” the book. I must, then, finish reading the book, even if it takes me forever.
6 - I *hate* smoking in every form known to man. I’ve also been known to be verbally abusive to my friends who smoke.
7 - I’m obsessed with plucking my eyebrows.
8 - I’ve had acne, zits, pimples, bad skin since I was 12 years old. Two Accutane treatments later, I still break out. And I still squeeze my face (as if you haven’t noticed).
9 - I still have the final 7 episodes of “NYPD Blue” on my Tivo that I haven’t watched yet and I refuse to delete until I see them. Yes, I could probably get them on DVD but they’re staying on my Tivo until they’re officially watched. And yes, the show’s been off the air for 2 years.
10 - I hit my snooze alarm at least two times each morning. And yes, I’ll set my alarm 15 minutes before I really need to get up to accommodate for above mentioned button slamming.
I think it’s the same inner circle that reads my blog so I won’t tag any Foxy’s (although anyone who hasn’t, needs to do their own list). With that in mind, I tag Irene, Sonia, Jean, Maria and Alli.
