A Few Days Late, But...

Happy Fourth of July.

Tony, Tony

The Tony Awards were Sunday night, so I thought I would share some of the highlights.

The Opening Number



The winner for best revival of a musical: Hair



Best Score winner (and my personal favorite show from this year): Next to Normal



Best Musical winner: Billy Elliot

Song of the Day- Day 8 "Fire and Rain"

For today:

"Fire and Rain"
by James Taylor




Just yesterday morning they let me know you were gone
Susanne the plans they made put an end to you
I walked out this morning and I wrote down this song
I just can't remember who to send it to

I've seen fire and I've seen rain
I've seen sunny days that I thought would never end
I've seen lonely times when I could not find a friend
But I always thought that I'd see you again

Won't you look down upon me, Jesus
You've got to help me make a stand
You've just got to see me through another day
My body's aching and my time is at hand
And I won't make it any other way

Oh, I've seen fire and I've seen rain
I've seen sunny days that I thought would never end
I've seen lonely times when I could not find a friend
But I always thought that I'd see you again

Been walking my mind to an easy time my back turned towards the sun
Lord knows when the cold wind blows it'll turn your head around
Well, there's hours of time on the telephone line to talk about things
to come
Sweet dreams and flying machines in pieces on the ground

Oh, I've seen fire and I've seen rain
I've seen sunny days that I thought would never end
I've seen lonely times when I could not find a friend
But I always thought that I'd see you, baby, one more time again, now

Thought I'd see you one more time again
There's just a few things coming my way this time around, now
Thought I'd see you, thought I'd see you fire and rain, now

So far, Tori's blog has featured music by Pink Floyd, The Scorpions, The Killers, The Agape Rose, Rush, Panic! At the Disco, Jimi Hendrix and Bob Dylan.

I noticed a definite lack of folk artists on her list, so I thought, in my guest post, I'd remedy that.

I was raised on folk music--Carly Simon, the Carpenters, Simon and Garfunkel, and, of course, James Taylor.

One of the most important things that my dad has shared with me is a love of music, and James Taylor was one of the first artists he shared with me. Of his songs, "Fire and Rain" has always been particularly interesting to me, because there's so much of a personal story in it.

The rumor is that the song is about Taylor's girlfriend (Suzanne) dying in a plane crash ("Sweet dreams and flying machines in pieces on the ground'). Though that story would be deep and personal enough, it is not the real story behind this song.

James Taylor, in explaining the song, divides it into three verse. The first is, in fact, about the suicide of a woman named Suzanne. Suzanne was not a romantic interest of Taylor's, but a friend from his days in New York with a band called The Flying Machines.

Part two of the song focuses on Taylor's struggle with heroin addiction following his return to the U.S. after recording his debut album for the Beatles' Apple Records in London. And part three refers to Taylor's five-month recovery process at a private psychiatric institution, Austen Riggs.

Taylor uses this compelling and plaintive song to chronicle the story of the struggles of his early career-- his struggles with drugs and depression. The lyrics are artful and his singing and playing is, as always heartfelt.

One of the best things about this song is that it's one that, whether you know the intended meaning or not (and now you do), you can find something meaningful in it.

So that's my post for "Song of the Day." Check Tori's blog at http://momentarylapseofmusic.blogspot.com/ for the earlier songs of the day and for the upcoming songs.

Tomorrow

Hey, guys!

My friend Tori over at Song of the Day is out of town tomorrow, so I will be posting for her blog on here tomorrow.

Look for my "song of the day" here tomorrow, and check out Tori's blog at http://momentarylapseofmusic.blogspot.com.

Same Name Game (Lame)

I had a conversation a while ago about people with the same name and all of the confusion that causes. As a person with a common name, I'm very aware of the difficulties that name sharing can lead to, but there are some instances of same-name that are just ridiculous.

For instance:

Christopher Columbus: the man who, in 1492, sailed the ocean blue and discovered the new world.
Chris Columbus: the guy that directed Home Alone and the first two Harry Potter movies.

Tom Cruise: actor and all-around nutbag.
Tom Kruse: the Hoveround guy-- you know, from those God awful commercials.

Michael Bolton: the guy that sounds and looks kinda like he's in pain whenever he sings.
Michael Bolton: the character from Office Space.

Michael Jackson: a wide receiver for the Baltimore Ravens.
Michael Jackson: former member of the Jackson 5 who has made headlines in the past few years for... well, a lot of strange behavior.

Winona: Ryder, actress in movies such as Edward Scissorhands.
Wynona: Judd, country singer.

Red Robin: Gourmet Burger restaurant chain.
Red Robin: DC Comics hero-turned-villain-turned-hero again.

Ramon Galves Huerta: retired chef arrested for being a heroin dealer.
Ramon Galves Huerta: heroin dealer.
(For real. Here's the news story. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090526/ap_on_re_us/us_wrong_arrest)

There are a ton of other examples, of course, but it's really just funny to think about all of the possible cases of mistaken identity that could stem from these names.

EDIT 7:33 p.m.: My roommate just reminded me of another same-name pair.

George Michael: the pop star, famous for "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go."
George Michael: Bluth, the character played by Michael Cera in the sitcom Arrested Development.

...What?

After months of hiding, I am proud (well, maybe not proud...) to announce my return to the blogosphere.

The past few months have been busy. And when they weren't busy, I was lazy.

I'm still lazy.

Anyway, since February, I've played a major role in my first university main-stage show, assistant directed my first community theater show, designed a set, seen Star Trek, traveled back and forth between school and home, held my three-year-old niece during a tornado and cooked chicken spaghetti.

Oh, and I finished my second year of college.

Weird, right?

So it's summer break now--at least until Tuesday, when I start my summer class (boo).

Summer means that it's time for me to
1. get some real writing done--I have about 20,000 words on the novel that I started for NaNoWriMo and lots of fun places to go with that
2. muddle my way through a science class--Again, boo.
And
3. find a job.

Exciting stuff.

But, even with that stuff to do, I still have more free time than usual. We'll see if I can match last summer's posts.

Thoughts For A Rainy Day

It has been raining here all day.

Which means that I've had rather a lot of time to think. And that's never good.

I spent a lot of time thinking about things that I've learned in my life-- especially the really odd things. So, today I bring you a list of (non)vital information for a rainy day.

* If you put thirty-five candles on a cake and light them all, you will set off the fire alarm and the fire department will come and shut down your opening night party.

* Nothing good can ever come from being in a Waffle House after midnight.

* It's a bad idea to wear a tank top and sandals on a late night walk in October.

* There's a song for everything. I mean everything.

* Some people should never have coffee.

* If you play a character that is stoned in a show, you will be remembered as "The Girl Who Was Stoned" or "Pot Girl."

* It's awkward when it's one of your professors who remembers you as "The Girl Who Was Stoned."

* Whenever people come to your apartment, there is a risk that they will fall asleep on your living room furniture.

* There's also a risk that your guests will break your dishes.

* There's always someone geekier than you are.

*Making a good grade in a foreign language class means nothing. Unless it's Japanese.

* Taco Bell is a brilliant idea.

* The bread at Olive Garden is not to be fooled around with.

* Hot dogs are made out of nasty.

* Kids shows will never be as good as they were when you were a kid.

* Calvin and Hobbes is still cool.

* It's always funny when friends who are drunk fall on their faces.

* Even people who love to read rarely have the chance to read for pleasure during the school year.

* It's far easier to sit in a coffee shop and talk for hours than it should be.

* Innuendo is everywhere.

* An hour spent watching YouTube videos is an hour well spent.

* Mountain Dew, Pepsi, Sierra Mist, Dr Pepper and Lemonade (sometimes) combine to make fruit punch.

* Adding "bitch" to the end of a statement makes it more authoritative.

* Carrying a wedding dress across campus will earn you a lot of strange looks.

* The word "epic" no longer has any meaning.

* The Wii is a dangerous thing.

* It is possible to injure yourself with a butter knife.

* The best stuff in the world hides in five dollar movie bins.

* Staying up all night with friends is, and ought to be, a regular occurrence.

I hope you're able to find some wisdom for a rainy day on this list. Or some random crap that got you to giggle. Either one.