So it turns out I cannot, I mean CANNOT do karaoke. I love to sing. I sing all the time. In the shower. In the car. At the top of my lungs to the dismay of others--Angela, Sarah... you know who you are! As part of the New Year's festivities at my friends' house, there was all kinds of crazy karaoke going on. I was ready to get over my fears and to embrace this fully with friends in a safe and happy environment.
Yet, it turns out there are still microphones involved and it doesn't matter how well you know the song, there is one crucial element lacking when the words start to scroll across the screen--the melody. I just couldn't find an entry point into the song. I couldn't find that first word, first beat, first note. It was terrifying. I would almost get one word out, realize it sounded froggy and wrong and then I literally fled the microphone. As Grover would say, all deep and monstery, "I'm so embarrassed." I remain karaoke-phobic.
I felt pressure to sing ABBA. "You LIKE ABBA" was the mantra... I'm sorry, but I've given this a lot of thought. If I'm going to sing anything it has to be something I know all the words to... not just the chorus. Something in my vocal range. Something I could sing beginning to end acapella if pressed. ABBA works if you are singing along with Benny and Bjorn. I needed something like "Nine to Five" by Dolly Parton (though even that one might be hard for me), "Tennessee Flat Top Box" by Roseanne Cash, "We've Only Just Begun" by The Carpenters, "Total Eclipse of the Heart" by Bonnie Tyler, "Making Love Out of Nothing at All" by Air Supply or "Too Many Secrets" by Patsy Cline. Hmmmm... not many karaoke machines have that one stocked. :) And it turns out it wouldn't matter anyway. When faced with "Tennessee Flat Top Box" and later with "Rainy Days and Mondays" I was a dismal failure.
Still everyone else had fun. Note the joy songs in the style of Tom Petty bring to this kiddo!
Here is 1/2 of the Meier Family Band.
Jonathon rocking out! This could be a new way to learn to read. Karaoke. I wonder if anyone else has thought of that?
With two gift certificates for Carmike Cinemas on the verge of expiration, I took in a double feature in an effort not to be "wasteful." I started with Four Christmases and, while it had a star studded cast, it wasn't all that great. I thought Reese Witherspoon was looking more lovely than ever, and I am a huge fan of Kristin Chenoweth, who played Witherspoon's sister.
Though I am NOT a Jim Carrey fan, I still felt compelled to see Yes Man based on how much Emma liked the book by Danny Wallace. This was actually rather entertaining. I love Bradley Cooper dating back to his days on Alias. Man, I miss Alias. I also enjoyed Cooper and Zooey Deschnael in the film Failure to Launch. Deschanel is her typical atypical self and I love the fact that she sings in the film. I've really enjoyed her first album with M. Ward.
Aside from the cast, I liked the message of the film. I felt Carrey embraced the character and only let the Jim Carrey beast loose a few times in the film. I could overlook the annoying facial spasms and simply enjoy the idea of saying "YES" to life. I think that it is an admirable idea and I find that I've been saying NO far too much lately. Perhaps 2009 will be a year of yes.
On Monday, Marci and I made a Target run in honor of 75% off! I picked up this Scandinavian design tree skirt. Of course there were other purchases but this one, most notable, most joyous.
I also got another Hallmark ornament for 2008--the viewmaster. This was a good year for 2008 Keepsake ornaments. I would love to show off all the goodies I got at Hallmark and everywhere else this year, but I'm too embarrassed by my excess. Maybe next year. When they are merely ornaments and not line items on my credit card bill!
On Christmas Eve I got to play with this pretty kitty--Sylvester a.k.a. Peep. He chased my yarn like mad and attacked my knitting needles with gusto. I ended up knitting a dish cloth full of cat spit. The pure joy of Peep made the knitting even more fun. I thought about tucking him in my bag and taking him home with me. :)
Ahhh yes. Good times. My brother and I spent most of the afternoon working on his brakes. One of the lines was clogged or seized or something that involved a new nipple due to rust. A new nipple. Tee hee. Or bleed valve or something that needed tweaking. Tee hee. The worst part? His brakes still don't work the way they should. Oh well.
and all through the house... the smell of PANIC was in the air.
I spent my evening of the 23rd in whirlwind of spastic energy. Baking, packing, wrapping gifts... actually finishing MAKING some of my gifts...
I made Vonnies Caramel Glazed Popcorn for my Uncle Errol. I made Grandma's favorite Caramel Puffcorn Curls for my dad and brother. I made Sara's Homemade Turtles to bring to my dad's and to my aunt & uncle's on Christmas Day. I made Mini Cheesecakes to bring to Christmas Day and to give my mom. I made Lemon Dill Dip so I could guarantee the consumption of some fresh veggies at my dad's and as part of the Christmas day buffet. And I packed all the ingredients for Anna's Colorful Bean Dip.
Whew I'm exhausted just remembering.
In the end, it all worked out (though I got very little sleep). The food was delish, recipes were exchanged and I managed to stay awake on the drive to north (in part through singing along to Brenda Lee's Christmas album and in part through knitting while I drove.)
Yes, I know. Knitting? Really?
Really. I used my knees to hold the wheel and only did it on the long straight stretches when there was no one immediately ahead of or behind me on the road. It may be perceived as dangerous but it takes a lot of concentration which kept me more wakeful than not. I believe that SLEEPING while driving is much worse!
I've had a thing for penguins since I saw The Man Who Came to Dinner a few years ago. In that film Sheridan Whiteside takes over the residence of a Midwestern family he is injured by falling on their icy front steps. During his recovery he gets phone calls from around the world and gifts of the strangest kind. One of those gifts is a box of penguins. They were so cute and funny. I just can't get them out of my mind.
Whiteside: Bring it over here. (Peering through slats.) Why, they're penguins. Two--three--four penguins. Hello, my pretties.
Expressman: Directions for feeding are right on the top. Two of those slats are loose.
John: (Reading.) "To be fed only whale blubber, eels, and cracked lobster."
Expressman: They got Coca-Cola this morning. And liked it.
If you haven't seen this wonderful film based on the play by Moss Hart and George S. Kaufman. Rent it. It's riotously funny and has a terrific cast as well: Monty Woolley, Bette Davis, Ann Sheridan, Jimmy Durante, Mary Wickes and Billie Burke.
Earlier today I couldn't help but feel a wave of satisfaction, and all-is-right-with-the-world as I did my daily cardio workout at the gym. I was happily jogging along on one of those treadmills with the TV attached to it (great invention, that!) watching CNN on mute, reading CNN, I guess as I listened to my mp3 player (I seem to have a disproportionate number of SLOW songs on there. I may need to make an exercise playlist). My first burst of joy came from hearing Andy Kim sing "So Good Together" when I'd not thought of that song in ages. My mp3 version is just a digital recording of my scratchy 45 and so it's very old feeling. Second swelling of the heart came from channel surfing and discovering the start of Frank Capra's Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939). Of course, the masses are all out there watching It's a Wonderful Life and why not, it's Christmas time. But this movie. Oh my. It's so dear. I am not sure how to describe it without needless gushing.
And while many focus on the inspirational character of Jefferson Smith (Jimmy Stewart), I tend to love and adore Clarissa Saunders (Jean Arthur). Saunders plays a slightly jaded, quick-witted, clever sort of woman who is assigned to work for the new senator. She refers to Smith as a boy scout, daniel boone, and any other disparraging name she can summon up as her resentment mounts over the intrusion of this small town, mama-loving, pigeon-toting yokel. Still it doesn't seem to be long before her icy heart melts and she sees something Washington hasn't seen in awhile. Sincerity. Honesty. True values and love for mankind. He's so earnest it makes my heart ache. And it's with her guidance that he is able to write his bill which would provide for a loan to set up a boy's camp in the state of New York. The next day when he presents the bill she tells her pal Diz, to watch because she knows something no one else knows... the location he's chosen for his camp. And she knows what that means to a few other senators and the stir this will cause.
Then later in the film when Jefferson Smith is about as low as he can get and is packed and ready to head home, tail between his legs, Saunders finds him at the Lincoln Memorial:
Clarissa Saunders: I see. When you get home, what are you gonna tell those kids?
Jefferson Smith: I'll tell 'em the truth. Might as well find it out now as later.
Clarissa Saunders: I don't think they'll believe you, Jeff. You know, they're liable to look up at you with hurt faces and say, 'Jeff, what did you do? Quit? Didn't you do something about it?'
Jefferson Smith: Well, what do you expect me to do? An honorary stooge like me against the Taylors and Paines and machines and lies...
Clarissa Saunders: Your friend Mr. Lincoln had his Taylors and Paines. So did every other man whoever tried to lift his thought up off the ground. Odds against 'em didn't stop those men. They were fools that way. All the good that ever came into this world came from fools with faith like that. You know that Jeff. You can't quit now. Not you! They aren't all Taylors and Paines in Washington. Their kind just throw big shadows, that's all. You didn't just have faith in Paine or any other living man. You had faith in something bigger than that. You had plain, decent, every day, common rightness. And this country could use some of that. Yeah - so could the whole cock-eyed world. A lot of it. Remember the first day you got here? Remember what you said about Mr. Lincoln? You said he was sitting up there waiting for someone to come along. You were right! He was waiting for a man who could see his job and sail into it. That's what he was waiting for. A man who could tear into the Taylors and root 'em out into the open. I think he was waiting for you Jeff. He knows you can do it. So do I.
Jefferson Smith: What? Do what, Saunders?
Clarissa Saunders: You just make up your mind you're not gonna quit and I'll tell you what. I've been thinkin' about it all the way back here. It's a forty foot dive into a tub of water, but I think you can do it.
The film is about one man up against many. It's about corruption in Washington, which Capra wanted to expose. His film did so at a delicate time, on the brink of WWII, but that didn't prevent him from releasing it and letting the film do the talking.
Check out the 1939 response to the film after its release (according to TCM):
On October 17, 1939, the picture was previewed at Washington’s Constitution Hall. The preview was a major production featuring searchlights and a National Guard band playing patriotic tunes; The Washington Times-Herald even put out a special edition covering the event. Four thousand guests attended, 45 Senators among them. About two-thirds of the way through the film, the grumbling began, with people walking out. Some politicians were so enraged by how “they” were being portrayed in the movie, they actually shouted at the screen. At a party afterward, a drunken newspaper editor took a wild swing at Capra for including a drunken reporter as one of the characters!
Several politicians angrily spoke out against the film in newspaper editorials, which, in the long run, may have helped its box office. Sen. Alben W. Barkley viewed the picture as “a grotesque distortion” of the Senate, “as grotesque as anything ever seen! Imagine the Vice President of the United States winking at a pretty girl in the gallery in order to encourage a filibuster!” Barkley, who was lucky he didn’t get quoted on the film’s posters, also said, “...it showed the Senate as the biggest aggregation of nincompoops on record!”
Senator James F. Byrnes of South Carolina suggested that official action be taken against the film’s release...lest we play into the hands of Fascist regimes. And Pete Harrison, the respected editor of Harrison Reports, urged Congress to pass a bill allowing theater owners to refuse to show films – like Mr. Smith - that “were not in the best interest of our country.” And you thought the Dixie Chicks got a raw deal.
I love classic films and Jimmy Stewart, Jean Arthur... I love clever dialogue... but I also love that this film has a message for today. In a country jaded by politics, politicians, and corruption, slipping deeper into recession, I think this film can speak to us all.
She took a small video clip of her nephew--the kind you do on a digital camera. Then using the FlipClips website she had them turn her video into a custom-made flip book for about ten dollars. So cool. Follow the Small Object blog link to see how hers turned out. There you can watch her video of her flip book (which is a flip book of a video... wait, what is going on here? )
That's my new ornament saying hello! Every year I indulge in at least one Hallmark collectible (I'll show you THAT one later) and usually some other little tree trinket with special meaning. This year I may have overindulged. (sheepish grin)
I bought this little dinosaur simply because he made me smile with his delicate glittery purple hands and long eyelashes.
This shot is a preview of the Christmas images to come. I spent my entire stormy Sunday decorating my humble abode. I have four trees--five if you want to be technical. This little silvery one is making herself at home. I love her. VERY muchly.
Here is 1/2 of the Meier Family Band.
Jonathon rocking out!
