Naturally Optimistic

Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald by Gordon Lightfoot The Edmund Fitzgerald     The legend lives on from the Chippewa on down of the big lake they called "Gitche Gumee." The lake, it is said, never gives up her dead when the skies of November turn gloomy. With a load of iron ore twenty-six thousand tons more than the Edmund Fitzgerald weighed empty, that good ship and true was a bone to be chewed when the "Gales of November" came early. The ship was the pride of the American side coming back from some mill in Wisconsin. As the big freighters go, it was bigger than most with a crew and good captain well seasoned, concluding some terms with a couple of steel firms when they left fully loaded for Cleveland. And later that night when the ship's bell rang, could it be the north wind they'd been feelin'? The wind in the wires made a tattle-tale sound and a wave broke over the railing. And ev'ry man knew, as the captain did too 'twas the witch ...

I'm very excited to be taking Dahlia to her first ever live stage show tonight! The Sound of Music! I know (okay, I hope) that she will love it! I know (pretty much) that she will fall asleep because I expect nothing less than a 3 hour production. I hope it creates lasting memories for her of the first time she saw live theater. I hope it entrances & inspires her. I cannot wait!

I've been sitting on this a while as to not jinx myself, but I can't contain it any longer - LOW will be featured on the soundtrack for THE LIFE OF RILEY! Whohoooo!! We're using 2 of their songs ("California" and "Breaker (Dub Plate)") as well as a Black Eyed Snakes song - yipeee!! The soundtrack will also feature two Austin natives - Martin Zellar & Charlie Parr! Wheeee!! Other musicians include Mary Bue, Haley Bonar, Cars and Trucks, The Very People, Amy Abts & more!! I'm so pleased with how all the music is coming together for RILEY. All MN musicians! Yahooo!!!!

I went to MAMA MIA! on Sunday night with my folks. I actually had TWO movies offers that night (unheard of!) - the other one was to see DARK KNIGHT with some friends, which I'm also really wanting to see - but I opted to hang with my folks since that's a rare occurrence. It was fun! The music of course is great. It is a silly story and silly performances, but I really did enjoy it. Meryl Streep is great, as usual. I've never seen the stage version so it was all new to me (well, except the music). My Dad kept humming along, which I thought was very cute. (they have seen the stage version). Pierce Brosnan looks gooooood, but man, he can't sing. Shame, really. I would've done with a few less random SLOW-MO shots (WTF?) and the editing in general I thought was a little hokey, but ah well. I had fun. It could've been because I was finally resting after a ridiculous weekend of work; or that I was happily sitting in a darkened movie theater with the baby tucked into be...

At times like these.... I miss living in LA!! Do you KNOW how close I used to live from Amoeba Records?!?!?!? *sigh*