As Time Leaves us

got to 1:06 for the song

I have been hearing this song the radio and thinking about what it would be like to live forever young. As the school year winds down I have realized that there isn't nearly enough time for homework let alone other things I want to do, like hanging out with my girlfriend or friends. If I had more time, there are tons of things I wish I could be doing. There are different ways to look at this theory. Would it be better to live forever or just to make the most of what little life you have? I think there are pros and cons of each.

If you live forever, you don't have to worry about the amount of time you have. But everyone else still does. The problem would be having to watch your friends grow old and die when never will. I would hate to lose everyone I loved even if I would get an eternity to do whatever I wished. It is the same idea as the story Tuck Everlasting. In that book, the family finds a lake where, if you drink from it, you live forever. It is a cursed miracle and not as good as the alternative.

Since noone can live forever, we just have to try our best to do everything we can before we can't anymore. What that is really depends on the person. I just think that everyone should do what they want so they have no regrets about it when they die. We would all be happier if we got to do that.

I just haven't met you yet

This is a great song I have just heard on the radio. It's called Haven't met you yet and it is a great love song. It was strange to hear that it was by Michael Buble because his music is usually more old style and not pop. I believe that this song sounds like a theme song for sitcom from the 90s.

How can I make them Proud?

Recently, there have been lots of award presentations for Theatre and Choir. These banquets are long and not exciting unless you actually get awards. In the past, I have done well at these events. I have recieved best in section for choir, best new member, soloist, and others. But this year was different. I was in a choir with seniors, so best in section would have been hard to get. Other people were better than me, so best new member was out too. I didn't have a solo, and all that combined made it a pretty boring night. I was sad that I didn't get these awards, but what I missed most was that I did not get the Baritone Belt of Power. This award is given to a junior baritone after a long speech that is very humorous. I felt like I had a good shot at getting it because I was an All-State Baritone, but appearently that doesn't matter. Instead it went to someone who was in chamber choir, a feat I have yet to accomplish. All of this made me sad but what made me even more depressed about it was my dad.



After walking out of those long awards, my dad was not happy that we got nothing. I don't know why but he found lots to criticize about the way I did things to explain why I had failed to accomplish anything. I know that he wasn't mad at me but I did my best so it felt like he was. I got a choir all-state and two speech all-states this year, and yet, because I didn't get recognition for anything, my dad was upset. I have made a plan, or at least started a plan, to take my school by storm and win as many awards as I can next year. I will make my dad proud of me, make no mistake about that.

Prom

Last Saturday was Prom at my school and it was amazing. We have a Senior prom only but since I am dating a senior I got to go. It was a really big thing and It took a lot of work to figure out. But it was all worth it in the end

The problem with figuring things out was that my girlfriend is a part time senior. She is home schooled for half of the time and is at school for the other part. This caused a problem because she didn't get the information about getting tickets or tables until really late. We ended up sitting at a table with couples we didn't know but that was fine because we got to talk to each other more that way.

The next step was finding a dress and a tux. she found her dress about two weeks before prom. I already had a tux so all I had to find was a vest and tie that would match her dress or a bow tie and cumber bun. Her dress was a light pink color it simple yet elegant and she looked great in it. I knew that I shouldn't get anything light purple or it might be too close to her color but not match. I decided to get a dark purple color instead. The problem was that no one in town had just a purple vest availible or a bow tie and cumber bun. We finally found a place: Center Stage Costume Shop. They had a bow tie and cumber bun that were perfect so we snatched them up before they were gone with all the rest of the purple vests.

the night of prom I went over to her house to take pictures. My mom came too and we had a small photo shoot. about ten minutes into the half hour we had planned, we ran out of poses and the will to take pictures so we headed out for the diner. We ate at Elmcrest Country Club. The food was delicious and the chocolate cake was heavenly.

After the meal the dance began. I knew that I wanted this night to be special for her since it was her senior prom so I requested our song: Music of My Heart by N*SYNC and Gloria Estafan. The DJ said he would play it and he did. I will never forget the look on her face when the song came on and she realized what it was. She was so happy and I was happy too. That was probably the best part of the dance. But we had fun and we were some of the last people to leave the dance.

Then came post prom. it was amazing. There was bowling, food, and poker. After blowing all my fake money in poker and watching my girlfriend win two teddy bears out of the claw machine ( one of which she gave to me) it was time for the hypnotist show. It was fun to watch him make our friends do crazy things that they would never do if they were awake. After a great show, we headed home. We didn't want the night to end but like all good things, it did. I will never forget that night and how much fun it was. I can't wait till my senior prom. I'm sure it will be even better than this.

Rhapsody Rampage

I have recently found a site for downloading music that has made it so much easier to get music. On Friday, I found rhapsody, a music downloading website similar to iTunes. I heard about it on a tv comercial while holding my iPod so I decided to look it up. It is better than iTunes in the fact that you can download as many songs that you want for ten dollars a month. On iTunes you pay a certain amount per song which is either $0.99 or $1.29. So if you download more than ten songs on Rhapsody, you have saved money. That was appealing but i don't have money to buy songs on iTunes or Rhapsody, and that was when the next thing about was revealed. When you open a new acount on Rhapsody, you get a free week of downloading as many songs as you want or can. That was amazing! I couldn't believe that all the songs I had wanted off iTunes were availible for free off of rhapsody. So, for the past two days, I have gone on a buying spree, download hundreds of songs and whole albums from my favorite bands. And I still have five days left to take advantage of this great deal. But what happens afterwards is the question. I don't have the money to pay every month but I want to make sure that I don't have to pay to keep my free songs. I have tried my best to load them on to iTunes but all my attemps have failed. My hope is that the app will still exist and I can put it in permanent off line mode so that I can still have my songs and it will never know that I haven't paid. I also wish I could get all the songs I want too. When I tried to get the Beatles songs and the Eagles songs I wanted, I found that you could only get tribut band and kareoke versions of the songs. Those are alright but they aren't the originals so I need to buy them on iTunes still. Besides that small set back however, I am much happier with the way Rhapsody works than iTunes and I am using an iPod to write this. So my apologies to apple but I feel that those of you who can should switch to Rhapsody. It is much more cost effective and the free trial is unmatched. My suggestion is that you don't change until you know you will have time to sit and download song for a week so that the free trial is better used. I realized my mistake to late and now I will lose some of the time that I would have used to get songs to take tests and go to school.

Sleep

This will be my second post about Eric Whitacre and I think he deserves 20 more. Recently in choir we have been sing one of his songs called Sleep. This is a very beautiful piece that almost didn't get to exist and still doesn't exist in its true form.



This is the version of the song right now. The lyrics were written by a great poet who has written other songs for Eric Whitacre.It is beautiful and had I not heard someone tell me this story about the song I never would have known that it wasn't originally written that way.




This is the original song. Whitacre used Robert Frost's Stopping by Woods but there was a big problem. he never got the permission to use it. His case was end by saying that this version can never exist until 2037. So he had another poet write the same word stress and syllables into a new poem so that he could still use his music before that point. So this fits perfectly with my music sampling idea. I think that he should be able to use a classic dead poets works because they should be in the public domain but appearently not everyone agrees. What do you think?

Traditional or Modern?

I have been thinking about how we did this year as a show choir and how we did the year before. This year we were twenty third in the nation and the year before we were eighteenth. Even though that isn't so different, we only won one competition this year and they won two last year and got second at all the other ones. When you look at the shows you can notice that the show from last year was more modern and the show from this year was more traditional. this caused me to think.

We are going through a change in the shows show choirs do. they are mixed between the groups being more modern and those still sticking with what has worked in the past. But who is better? It appears that as the songs become more modern, the judges have started to like them more because they are different. Now, groups in CA who have the ability to use better production, are making sets that are new and inspiring and they are being rewarded for it. Just comparing the closers of the shows, you can see Please Don't Stop the Music would kill Shine like the Sun.

So why doesn't everyone do shows that are newfangled? Because it is difficult to pull off a song where the dance has to be modern and less standard show choir like. you have to act differently, dance in less structured methods, and sing with a different tone and style. Plus, old show choir sets are reliable. They don't always win but they aren't hard to figure out and they are very structured.

As we move forward in time, I could see people switching to more difficult, modern set lists that will, in turn, raise the standards for all show choirs. Sometimes we have to give into progress to realize what it can do for us.





And here for the fun of it is someone stuck on tradition

Varsity for Choir?

In the past week we did our auditions for both choir and show choir. They were much less stressful for me than usual because I was already in the top show choir last year but there were many surprises in this year's cycle. The director at our school has decided not to do things the same as usual. The regular choir is going to be mu ch different. in the past, you were required to be in concert choir if you were in the top show choir. now you don't have to and might not get to because he is changing the number of people in the choirs. There were 160 people auditioning for concert choir and only half of them will make it. that is a huge difference from what it use to be where everyone got in if they were good enough or had time to do it. He is also cutting the Chamber choir, which is the group above concert choir, in half as well. this means it will be closer to the size of our 12 person jazz group. This is causing trouble, though, because the people auditioning are doing two things: they are getting better and there are more of them. that is where my question comes in. For the first time, we my actually have a varsity choir.

We have always had the varsity show choir, Happiness inc., at my school and that is because we always have tons of people audition for the 48 spots in the group. This year was actually worse than before. there were even large amounts of freshman that could have beaten some of the sophomores and juniors. It means that we will have a great pool of kids to choose from but sadly we will have to leave some out of groups even if they are good enough to be in them.

That has never happened in choir however. until this year. we have always had a big enough choir that it didn't matter if we had a lot of people audition. But now we have reduced the number of people in the groups, added a varsity letter to earn, and there were more people than ever who auditioned. So, here we are at a crossroad. This will surely help both concert choir and the lower choir where the rest of the people who don't make it will be placed but it won't make people happy. People who are great and have been in some of these groups already will be removed because the competition is so tough.

So I will compare it to this. People who try their best will not make groups they are deserving of. So their effort doesn't even matter

Who's Line is it Anyway?

Alright, so I was flipping through channels one night and I stumbled upon a show that I had only seen a few other times. When I finished watching it, I realized why I had only seen it a few times as a young kid. It was a pretty dirty and adult show but it was very funny and impressive. It is called Who's Line is it Anyway? It starred three very talented actors: Wayne Brady, Ryan Stiles, and Colin Mochrie and one more comedian with them. The show is an improve comedy performance. That means that none of the show is scripted and nothing they do is planned. They do lots of different games on the show and they all have their strong points but I think my favorite game is Greatest hits. In the game, Colin, the bald one, and Ryan, the tall one, are tv sales people trying to sell a CD to the viewers with strange songs on it about a topic. Then, when they say a style and a title for the song, Wayne, the black one, and the guest artist perform the song. This is possibly my favorite because this takes talent as a singer and an improve artist.

WARNING: THESE VIDEOS AREN'T CLEAN AND IF YOU DON'T WANT TO HEAR SEXUAL JOKES YOU SHOULD NOT WATCH THESE!





this is another game called Irish Drinking Song. They have to sing a song one line at a time. This is very impressive as well all though not as much for the great singing but for the funny jokes.

WARNING: THESE SONGS ARE WORSE THAN THE FIRST SET AND MORE CAUTION SHOULD BE TAKEN!







And here is another thing they do. On the show, they sometimes have special guests. Usually they are women because the show normally stars men. But there are cases when they just want to be funny and bring on someone different, like Richard Simmons.

WARNING: THIS IS VERY VERY DIRTY. YOU SHOULD NOT WATCH THIS IF YOU WOULD BE OFFENDED AND DON'T BLAME ME IF YOU ARE. I WARNED YOU.

But Where is the Audience?

I am, as most of you know, writing this blog for my language arts class. The point that we originally said was that we were writing to an audience but is that really the case? I have tried to put questions into my blog posts so that I could see if people were reading my blog but so far I have never had any of those questions answered. So I have concluded that I am merely writing this blog for no reason except for the grade and my teacher. If I am wrong, please respond to this post with some answer. I don't care what you say, just that you comment somewhere on this post or another one. I want to know that I actually have viewers so that I can fell like there is a point in trying to write well and not just putting random words on a page. This video is of a crazy old and funny show that I recently rediscovered called Who's Line is it Anyway? It is on weekdays from 11:00pm to 12:00am. If you haven't seen it I suggest you do. I am attempting to put up a funny post to try and get more follwers and people who will write comments, so tell your friends to look if you like it.

The work of a Prodigy

This song is my dream song to play in an orchestra some day. I loved the movie and the music from it. This song is basically the culmination of all the sounds in the whole movie. I wish that I could be as talented as the Character August Rush was.

What American Pie Means

I have recently become obsessed with this song and I I have been thinking about what it means. I don't like to sing songs and not know what I mean or what was meant by the lyrics. In this case the song isn't dirty or bad but I had very little idea of what this song meant. The song is American Pie by Don McLean.



I looked on the Internet to find a brief idea of what to look at. Here's what About.com said. The song was written in the 1970's which was a confusing time for the world. He mentions Lenin and Marx, the leader of the USSR and the founder of communism respectively. Communists were the USA's enemy at the time since it was during the Cold war when this song was written. It also discussed fallout shelters which would have been important since the Cold war was a race for nuclear arms between the USA and the USSR and there was always the chance that one side could start to use there weapons and we would need a place to be safe.

You can't use dates and events for everything. some of the things were do to the mood of the world and music. It is sometimes mentioned that it was a song for three singers who died in a 1950s plane crash. It is clear that he had other reasons for writing such a song. It has strange lyrics and references that are disputed but have never really had confirmed meanings. So we just have to wonder and let the song mean what we think it does.

This is from a time when there were always hidden meanings to songs or at least there was emotion behind the lyrics. Because there is no concrete meaning for this song, it can mean whatever the person listening to it needs it to mean for them. This is the miricle of this song. It is the longest song ever to be number one on the Billboard 100 songs at 8:32!

Here are the lyrics so you can find a meaning for yourself:

A long, long time ago...
I can still remember
How that music used to make me smile.
And I knew if I had my chance
That I could make those people dance
And, maybe, they'd be happy for a while.

But february made me shiver
With every paper I'd deliver.
Bad news on the doorstep;
I couldn't take one more step.

I can't remember if I cried
When I read about his widowed bride,
But something touched me deep inside
The day the music died.

So bye-bye, miss american pie.
Drove my chevy to the levee,
But the levee was dry.
And them good old boys were drinkin� whiskey and rye
Singin', "this'll be the day that I die.
"this'll be the day that I die."

Did you write the book of love,
And do you have faith in God above,
If the Bible tells you so?
Do you believe in rock 'n roll,
Can music save your mortal soul,
And can you teach me how to dance real slow?

Well, I know that you're in love with him
`cause I saw you dancin' in the gym.
You both kicked off your shoes.
Man, I dig those rhythm and blues.

I was a lonely teenage broncin' buck
With a pink carnation and a pickup truck,
But I knew I was out of luck
The day the music died.

I started singin',
"bye-bye, miss american pie."
Drove my chevy to the levee,
But the levee was dry.
Them good old boys were drinkin' whiskey and rye
And singin', "this'll be the day that I die.
"this'll be the day that I die."

Now for ten years we've been on our own
And moss grows fat on a rollin' stone,
But that's not how it used to be.
When the jester sang for the king and queen,
In a coat he borrowed from james dean
And a voice that came from you and me,

Oh, and while the king was looking down,
The jester stole his thorny crown.
The courtroom was adjourned;
No verdict was returned.
And while lennon read a book of marx,
The quartet practiced in the park,
And we sang dirges in the dark
The day the music died.

We were singing,
"bye-bye, miss american pie."
Drove my chevy to the levee,
But the levee was dry.
Them good old boys were drinkin' whiskey and rye
And singin', "this'll be the day that I die.
"this'll be the day that I die."

Helter skelter in a summer swelter.
The birds flew off with a fallout shelter,
Eight miles high and falling fast.
It landed foul on the grass.
The players tried for a forward pass,
With the jester on the sidelines in a cast.

Now the half-time air was sweet perfume
While the sergeants played a marching tune.
We all got up to dance,
Oh, but we never got the chance!
`cause the players tried to take the field;
The marching band refused to yield.
Do you recall what was revealed
The day the music died?

We started singing,
"bye-bye, miss american pie."
Drove my chevy to the levee,
But the levee was dry.
Them good old boys were drinkin� whiskey and rye
And singin', "this'll be the day that I die.
"this'll be the day that I die."

Oh, and there we were all in one place,
A generation lost in space
With no time left to start again.
So come on: jack be nimble, jack be quick!
Jack flash sat on a candlestick
Cause fire is the devil's only friend.

Oh, and as I watched him on the stage
My hands were clenched in fists of rage.
No angel born in hell
Could break that satan's spell.
And as the flames climbed high into the night
To light the sacrificial rite,
I saw satan laughing with delight
The day the music died

He was singing,
"bye-bye, miss american pie."
Drove my chevy to the levee,
But the levee was dry.
Them good old boys were drinkin' whiskey and rye
And singin', "this'll be the day that I die.
"this'll be the day that I die."

I met a girl who sang the blues
And I asked her for some happy news,
But she just smiled and turned away.
I went down to the sacred store
Where I'd heard the music years before,
But the man there said the music wouldn't play.

And in the streets: the children screamed,
The lovers cried, and the poets dreamed.
But not a word was spoken;
The church bells all were broken.
And the three men I admire most:
The father, son, and the holy ghost,
They caught the last train for the coast
The day the music died.

And they were singing,
"bye-bye, miss american pie."
Drove my chevy to the levee,
But the levee was dry.
And them good old boys were drinkin' whiskey and rye
Singin', "this'll be the day that I die.
"this'll be the day that I die."

They were singing,
"bye-bye, miss american pie."
Drove my chevy to the levee,
But the levee was dry.
Them good old boys were drinkin� whiskey and rye
Singin', "this'll be the day that I die."

Who are the Greats?

I have recently found a list of the best singers of all time according to Rolling Stone Magazine and I don't know that I agree with it. I need some help, however. I can't put together a list of singers that I think are the best if I don't have help. Please leave comments on who you want to see on the list and where. here is the list I found.

100 Mary J. Blige 99 Steven Tyler 98 Stevie Nicks 97 Joe Cocker 96 B.B. King 95 Patti LaBelle 94 Karen Carpenter 93 Annie Lennox 92 Morrissey 91 Levon Helm 90 The Everly Brothers 89 Solomon Burke 88 Willie Nelson 87 Don Henley 86 Art Garfunkel 85 Sam Moore 84 Darlene Love 83 Patti Smith 82 Tom Waits 81 John Lee Hooker 80 Frankie Valli 79 Mariah Carey 78 Sly Stone 77 Merle Haggard 76 Steve Perry 75 Iggy Pop 74 James Taylor 73 Dolly Parton 72 John Fogerty 71 Toots Hibbert 70 Gregg Allman 69 Ronnie Spector 68 Wilson Pickett 67 Jerry Lee Lewis 66 Thom Yorke 65 David Ruffin
64 Axl Rose 63 Dion 62 Lou Reed 61 Roger Daltrey 60 Björk 59 Rod Stewart 58 Christina Aguilera 57 Eric Bourdon 56 Mavis Staples 55 Paul Rodgers 54 Luther Vandross 53 Muddy Waters 52 Brian Wilson 51 Gladys Knight 50 Bonnie Raitt 49 Donny Hathaway 48 Buddy Holly 47 Jim Morrison 46 Patsy Cline 45 Kurt Cobain 44 Bobby “Blue” Bland 43 George Jones 42 Joni Mitchell 41 Chuck Berry 40 Curtis Mayfield
39 Jeff Buckley 38 Elton John 37 Neil Young 36 Bruce Springsteen 35 Dusty Sprinfield
34 Whitney Houston 33 Steve Winwood 32 Bono 31 Howlin’ Wolf 30 Prince 29 Nina Simone
28 Janis Joplin 27 Hank Williams 26 Jackie Wilson 25 Michael Jackson 24 Van Morrison
23 David Bowie 22 Etta James 21 Johnny Cash 20 Smokey Robinson 19 Bob Marley 18 Freddie Mercury 17 Tina Turner 16 Mick Jagger 15 Robert Plant 14 Al Green 13 Roy Orbison 12 Little Richard 11 Paul McCartney 10 James Brown 09 Stevie Wonder 08 Otis Redding 07 Bob Dylan 06 Marvin Gaye 05 John Lennon 04 Sam Cooke 03 Elvis Presley
02 Ray Charles 01 Aretha Franklin

Can you Imagine?

I was on the song analyzing run this week so here is my final one. Can you imagine a world that is perfect? Maybe but my guess is that if you can, it doesn't have a plan to get to there in the world. Your dreams skip the part of what has to happen so that they can actually be real. Heres one that doesn't.



John Lennon lived during a very strange and uncertain time in the world. We sometimes forget that they sixties were hard because all we see is hippies saying life is good. We block out the bad that they were fighting against and all the wrongs done to them. So, it is no wonder why John Lennon wrote this song. He wanted the world to be united and for the wars and fights to end. He was being slightly direct on what he thinks we need to do to make that happen but that is understandable. At least he understood that we were going to have to work hard to make world peace but he knew that it could eventually come. Peace isn't easy to achieve and Lennon wasn't blind to that but if we all believed what he did then there wouldn't be a problem making peace with everyone. Unity is the way.

How many of his ways do you think are possible?

Imagine there's no Heaven
It's easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us only sky
Imagine all the people
Living for today

Imagine there's no countries
It isn't hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people
Living life in peace

You may say that I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will be as one

Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man
Imagine all the people
Sharing all the world

You may say that I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will live as one

Send in the Clowns

Recently, I discovered a song that seemed very sad. It's called Send in the Clowns which seems very happy at first but it is truly a very depressing song when you look at the words. It has two meanings though and either one is melancholy for different reasons.

The real meaning is that there is an actress who is in love with this man but she didn't want to marry him when he asked her years before. Now that she does, however, he has married a very young woman and can't be with her. she sings this after he has told her that he can't be with her. The title, Send in the Clowns, in this interpretation means send in the fools or make jokes because the show is dying and we don't know what to do next. This is what she thinks about her life, it is falling apart and she doesn't know what to do now.

The interpretation I found was put in my head when we were discussing show choir ballads. We started talking about ballads that have that long silence at the end before the applause. Someone said there was a school in the 1990s that did Send in the Clowns, and wen they got done this person thought the crowd wasn't going to cheer because the silence was so long. The way he saw it was that the person singing was an acrobat in a circus. They hadn't been using nets and they fell and were dying on the ground singing this song. The title literally meant send in the clowns because they didn't want the circus ruined because they had died and the clowns would make people happy. This is the same idea as the post The show must go on.



Here are the lyrics. See which side you are on:

Isn't it rich?
Are we a pair?
Me here at last on the ground,
You in mid-air.
Send in the clowns.

Isn't it bliss?
Don't you approve?
One who keeps tearing around,
One who can't move.
Where are the clowns?
Send in the clowns.

Just when I'd stopped opening doors,
Finally knowing the one that I wanted was yours,
Making my entrance again with my usual flair,
Sure of my lines,
No one is there.

Don't you love farce?
My fault I fear.
I thought that you'd want what I want.
Sorry, my dear.
But where are the clowns?
Quick, send in the clowns.
Don't bother, they're here.

Isn't it rich?
Isn't it queer,
Losing my timing this late
In my career?
And where are the clowns?
There ought to be clowns.
Well, maybe next year.

The Show Must Go On

I was inspired by this song when I heard it at the Queen concert for the first time. It was performed and recorded just six weeks before Freddie Mercury, the lead singer of Queen, died of complications from AIDS. The song talks about how no matter what, we have to keep going, which was obviously adressed at the fact that Queen would be losing its front man soon and would try to carry on. I think this is a good life lesson to. in everyones' life there are going to be times when you don't feel like living or like your troubles are too much to bare but you have to keep fighting. Just like Freddie did, singing with a lung disease six weeks before his death. RIP Freddie.



Empty spaces - what are we living for?
Abandoned places - I guess we know the score...
On and on!
Does anybody know what we are looking for?

Another hero - another mindless crime.
Behind the curtain, in the pantomime.
Hold the line!
Does anybody want to take it anymore?

The Show must go on!
The Show must go on!
Inside my heart is breaking,
My make-up may be flaking,
But my smile, still, stays on!

Whatever happens, I'll leave it all to chance.
Another heartache - another failed romance.
On and on!
Does anybody know what we are living for?

I guess I'm learning
I must be warmer now..
I'll soon be turning round the corner now.
Outside the dawn is breaking,
But inside in the dark I'm aching to be free!

The Show must go on!
The Show must go on! Yeah!
Ooh! Inside my heart is breaking!
My make-up may be flaking!
But my smile, still, stays on!
Yeah! oh oh oh

My soul is painted like the wings of butterflies,
Fairy tales of yesterday, will grow but never die,
I can fly, my friends!

The Show must go on! Yeah!
The Show must go on!
I'll face it with a grin!
I'm never giving in!
On with the show!

I'll top the bill!
I'll overkill!
I have to find the will to carry on!
On with the,
On with the show!

The Show must go on.

How Can Asking a Simple Question be so Extravagant?

It's Prom season! And that means that all of the seniors are asking their sweet hearts if they will go to prom with them. The thing that I wonder is almost this: Why ask when you know that they will say yes? The answer is that it is one of the most fun things to do in your high school career and, from what I have heard almost as good as prom. I think that I have seen some of the most creative ways of doing it this year.

The first one was the way my girlfriend asked me. I got over to her house and I found a note on her door that said I was going on a scavenger hunt. As I kept going on the scavenger hunt around her house she left notes that had some of the most romantic moments in our relationship on them and always led me to another spot in her house. When I got to the basement, I opened all the envelopes to find the words "Will you go to prom with me" hand drawn in oil pastels. It was a great way to look back at the great times we have had and what was next. I was ecstatic she asked me.



The next one that came was by one of the most funny and creative people I know. First you need to know a few things. Or choir room has a projector screen and a wall of mirrors facing it. You will see that this is a major factor in the proposal. At the end of class on April fools day, our choir director put in a DVD for us to watch. It started and what came up was what I expected: John Burroughs High School Chamber Choir 2009. I know that is a great school and I figure that they had probably performed a sing we were singing really well. But then the screen turned grey and a voice said " we have a message for Ellen Bardsley." Everyone knew what was happening at that point but we were all intrigued. The video suddenly broke out into this orange and red and yellow background and would break into pictures of Lars sitting trying to think of how to ask her. In tyhe end he writes the words on a piece of paper but it is backwards. So he tells her to turn around and it is in the mirror forward and says, "will you go to prom with me?" Everyone ooohed and aaahhhed and she ran over to hug Lars. It was really fun and romantic. I think everyone agreed it was one of the best.

Then the final one came during the Queen Concert I mentioned earlier on my blog. Spencer, who was performing in the concert with the choir, went up to talk to the lead singer after the rehersal that morning. My girlfriend had wanted to talk to him to so we were waiting our turn while Spencer talked. After we heard what he had said we didn't have anything left to say. That night he was going to have the singer stop in the middle of the show and ask for Spencer's girlfriend to come down in front of the stage. Spencer was then going to had her a red rose and ask her to go to prom with him and then the band would play your my best friend. As it turned out she could get to the front of the stage. So she stood up at the edge of the balcony, the lead singer ran out into the audience and threw the rose to her(which she caught), and Spencer asked her from the stage and then ran out into the audience to see her. It was very spontaneous and huge. I wondered how you even think that you could do something like that but if that is possible, I'm sure that nothing is to much to ask someone to prom with you.

Gaga

Lady Gaga. She is a huge pop sensation and a total freak when it comes to how she dresses, but everyone loves her. But who knows how she got her name? The truth, she got it from a Queen song. when I was at the Queen concert, they performed the song Radio Gaga and the singer jokingly sang Poker Face by Lady Gaga during the opening. That was when it first occured to me that there might be some meaning behind the name she had. Turns out that she had always used Radio Gaga as her walk out music before she was famous and her manager sent her a text where raio had been autocorrected to say lady. And from that point on she was called Lady Gaga instead of her real name, Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta.

The "Queen" of Rock Concerts

In my city, there is a symphony called Orchestra Iowa. They do lots of concerts every year and most of them include only classical music. That kind of music is great but every so often they do a concert which is truly amazing; a concert of Rock Classics. This year they did a concert of Queen music and it was amazing. And the best part? Some of my fellow show choir members and I got to sing in the show!

The Band that they play with is amazing. They are a cover band called jeans and classics and their lead singer, Mike Shaw, sounds just like the original performers of the songs. That combined with the flawless orchestra performance was enough to give me goose bumps. But what was even better was that we got in for free. They set a whole section aside for the choir and let us watch the first part until intermission. Mike and the rest of the band performed right to us and made me feel like I was some sort of celebrity. That could have been that we were the most responsive people in the audience since the audience wasn't really planning to come to a rock concert. Still, I was happy he even acknowledged us because he could have just passed us off as a bunch of high schoolers that he wouldn't give the time of day.

The singer also came out and talked with all of the choir members before we went on for the final half of the concert. He was super fun to hang out with and didn't seem to mind our endless prodding for answers to our questions. When it was time to goon for our performance, the whole group was totally pumped. we got on stage at this professional show and I thought I would be more nervous than I had ever been on stage but it was completely different. I think I was more relaxed rocking out on stage with all my friends than when I sing by myself and I know no one is watching.

We sang seven songs: We stomped and sang We Will Rock You, We Are the Champions, Flash, You Take My Breath Away, Who Wants to Live Forever, Somebody to Love, and Bohemian Rhapsody. Those are some of of my favorite Queen songs and now I love them all even if I had never heard of them before. The choir was great at singing them and it made the songs that much more amazing to hear with about a 50 voice choir backing the band up.

At the end the band did Fat Bottom Girls and Too Much Love Will Kill You for the encores and we sang along with those because we all knew them even without music. we also held up our cell phones and ipod lighter apps for the final song. As my girlfriend said it was like looking at a star filled sky as we saw all the cell phones in the crowd. The whole concert was amazing and I can't wait until next year!

Here are some of the songs

Star Guitars

When I was at church this Sunday there were two seven string guitar players and one of them had a double headed twelve string guitar too. Looking at these instruments made me wonder about other strange instruments and about guitars. This seemed like a good enough time as any to start to learn.



Doubled Necked Guitars were the first strange instrument I thought to look at. The Guitarist for Led Zeppelin uses among others. They are usually made with one six string neck and one twelve string neck but there are an infinite number of combinations. They are used for easily switching from on type of guitar to another such as fretted to fretless or with a different type of pick ups. They can be very crazy such as the Pikasso Guitar which has 42 strings!



I also looked at electric stringed instruments for fun. They allow the quite natured strings to be loud and to serve as rock style instruments like electric guitars. Here are some pictures of these odd instruments.



This is the electric cello that I own. It can be played acoustically but it is very quite since it doesn't have a body to resonate sound. I think it is cool because it is shaped like the Golden Books "G".



this is a typical electric violin. it has next to no body so it can't make very much acustic sound but it can with the pick up. electric string instruments (including guitars) can be amazing shapes because they don't have to have any thing but a neck, strings, and a pick up to play.

Are Hippie teens Hip?

Lately I have noticed that my little sister has been wearing a lot of peace signs and hippie symbols. I was thinking about how everything seems to be playing out in reverse of how it originally was when the decades are coming back. So I figure it is about time for the sixties and seventies to come back in style. But the real questions is whether the hippie attitude will return or if it will be just the style.

When I look around, it is clear that the hippie way isn't dead. People still play and listen to the music of that time, they still have some of the same beliefs, and they do some of the same activities. But modern hippie followers aren't really protesting anything. They are just doing this for the good time and because they like the sound and/or atmosphere. The feeling of family for all and inclusion is great but I do wonder if there isn't something that they could be fighting for.

In 1963, when the US started the Vietnam war, the war was against an enemy that had made attacks but hadn't declared war. We were fighting an enemy that wasn't a major threat to us at the time. People who were hippies were fighting against being in Vietnam when it was a civil war and didn't really need to involve us. Just because we had set up their government prior to the war didn't require that we help keep that government in power. But the government was trying to contain communism and letting Nam fall would have been contradicting to our goals.



The world is circling back to the point where we were with Vietnam. We started the war on terror because of the September 11th attacks. The Bush Doctrine which was put in place after that was that of preventative war. That means we were fight against a group that wasn't a huge threat. We didn't learn our lesson and we have installed a government in Iraq and afganistan that are corrupt and falling apart. People aren't happy with war but for some reason people aren't as openly protesting what is going on. If they did they could be real hippies. Right now they are too caught up in American issues and social life to protest what is going on in the world. Music is caught up in sex, drugs, and romance and hasn't had the motivation to change its ways and write music with meaning and validity for the world.

So that is where we are stuck. The hippies are just doing it for the fashion and the musicians won't use there talents to protest the world issues. My opinion is that hippies could easily come back but I doubt it will ever be exactly the same as it as before. It's only a matter of time before the next generation finds a reason to try and change the world.

Satire Desire

In class yesturday, we read a very interesting piece of writing. It was called,"A Modest Proposal," and it was by Johnathan Swift. The story is a strange piece of writing until you realize that it is a style called satire.


Wikipedia says satire is a simple genre of writing that uses wit and humor to portray a deeper meaning or idea. In Swift's essay, he said that he thought that the poor Irish families should just sell the young children they couldn't feed and then they wouldn't be poor, there would be more food, and there would be less overcrowding. He was kinding of course but what he was saying that the ideas that people were giving out for how to solve this problem were no better than this plan so why don't we just you his. that and the fact that no one was using the simple solutions that were obvious to everyone.



As I was considering satire and what it meant, it reminded me of a play I was in called Arsenic and Old Lace. This show is about two old ladies who, thinking that they are suffering from old age and can't stand their complaining, decide to put old men out of their misery by killing them. This causes problems for their whole family. the idea seemed very similar to what swift was doing but when I looked it up I found it was different. They called it a farce, very similar to a satire but it has no real underlying meaning. I agree that there isn't really any other meaning than for entainment.

Sweeney Todd was another show that came to mind when you think about killing and an underlying meaning. In this show, Sweeney is tormented by troubles and he can't stand his life so he draws the conclusion that all people must be as miserable as he is and they must want to die. And he also decides that those who are rich and wicked to people like him don't deserve to live. This is definently a new idea, but was it funny? I realized that this was more horror and thrill than comedy. That doesn't really have a genre but it isn't satire.

So maybe these weren't satire but it brought up a different thought: what can we do to stop these depressing thoughts that so many people have? I think it really comes down to knowing that we need to care for each other regardless of their class level or misery. you can't make death the option when people are sad or cruel, lest we become as those master who doth control us. And that will lead world to nothing good.

Music Sampling

Have you ever heard the song "Land Down Under?" My bet is you have. Now how about "Kookaburra Sits in the Old Gum Tree?" Again I would guess you have. Now compare the two. Land down under is a pop song that has a cool beat and a sweet flute section in the middle. Kookaburra is folk song for children. I think that most people would find these songs to be completely different. However, the people that matter feel like they are too much the same. Recently a case was made saying that the amazing flute part I mentioned in the beginning was stolen from Kookaburra. When I found this out, I was shocked because I couldn't believe songs that are so different could have any similarities. I also don't know why it took years before this was discovered. If there were more than twenty years between when it was made and when it was found why are the makers of the song being sued for millions of dollars? This hit will now be a flop because of a mistake that just recently became a huge problem.

Music sampling is the practice of taking a part of one song and putting it in another song as a background track with some alteration. This idea began with rappers in the eighties and has continued until today. For a long time this has been a respected practice of the music world but it has since become a problem. Record labels who hold the rights to the songs being used are suing those who sampled saying that it is copyright infringement. This has stood in some cases and seems as though it is becoming the status quo. There are some defenses however.

A song can be sampled in another song if that song has not been used in the same way it was orignally used or if it is significantly altered from it's original sound. This is where things get sketchy. What is significantly altered? What was the original use and is it different? The problem is that these questions could be answered either way and often have been in court cases. But if there is a time when sampling is legal then why is there not a clear line of when it is not? There is no specific amount of measures, words, or notes that say you have illegally sampled music.

You can also get permission to sample music or break copyright laws. People arrange pieces of music everyday. Te difference is that they ask permission to alter the music and/or they give the original author credit for their work. This changes things from illegal to accept in society even though they are almost the same practice.

So there are other questions that eventually come like when is music legally in the public domain and legal to sample. That doesn't happen until a minimum of ninety after the death of the copyright owner. So maybe the next question should be if that is too long for people to make money off of a song. In my mind that is way too long. You should never need to hold a copy more than about your life. When you die your music should go into the public domain so that people can appreciate and honor your death without have to pay for it.

So basically I believe that music sampling is a new style and a new way to show songs. Therefore, it should be legal to take parts of songs and use them in your music as long as they don't hurt the original song or use massive sections of a song.

Our Song

Do you know in all of those movies where there is a couple and they have "their song?" I have never actually understood that because I haven't ever had a song for my relationships. But I finally found that feeling!

In December last year, I started dating Briana Larson. I realized that I really do love her differently than anyone else I have ever dated. After a few months of dating, she introduced me to a song that she thought was really amazing. It was "Music of My Heart" by N*Sync and Gloria Estefan. I thought it was a good song but I didn't really listen then.



It wasn't until Jefferson High School's Show Choir Invitational that I truly learned why that song was special. At show choir competitions, they can sometimes sell shout outs. Shout outs are small messages that you want to say to one of the group members. My school had TONS of shout outs. I was about to stop listening when I heard my name. It was from Briana! I can't remember everything that it said but what I do remember is that she said " You are the Music of my heart," and that was when I figured it all out. That quote, although it proved that that was our song, was the basis for couples having a song. It is to show their love for each other through another media. Love has been said to make your heart sing, so you have to have a song that it sings when you are in love.

So, if you are looking for your song, try to listen to your heart and what it sings when you are together. Your song should be the music of your love just like Briana is the "Music of my Heart."

Micheal Reborn

Losing Micheal Jackson was a terrible thing. He was truly a great talent and he is dearly missed. I have always loved his songs and his amazing voice and I doubted that anyone could ever be as good as he was but I have seen that isn't true. This kid is a sixth grader at McKinley Middle School in Cedar Rapids, IA. His name is Shawndell Young and I know that he is going to be the next star. If you don't believe, or even if you do, here is the link to his performance. (I hate it when people disable embedding)

shawndell's performance

The Different Sides to us All

A friend of mine has been doing this great song for speech team and fell in love with it. I believe that we all have different sides even if it isn't as drastic as this song. What we have to do is not let the Hyde side take over us as Dr. Jekyll did.


 

A Weekend of Wonder

This weekend was the twenty sixth annual Jefferson Show choir Invitational. I was excited because it was the last local show choir competition of the year for Kennedy High School. The competition began with the vocal jazz ensembles. Our group, Moonlight Express, was amazing, and I am not just saying that because my girl friend had three solos in the group. The critique was pretty much praise and a few things that we might try doing that may or may not be necessary. It turned out that we got one of two outstanding performances from the night. That was the perfect beginning and it only got better. Next was Chamber Choir. They performed the next morning. I knew was a good sign when the critic, who had been super critical of the group before us, could only say wow. He gave compliment after compliment and in the end, Chamber Choir received first place. Our ninth grade show choir, Chanteurs, has been getting better and better this year especially and we already knew they were good but it became clear at this venue. We were sitting at the awards ceremony just waiting for there name in the prep division. Sixth, fifth, fourth and not the slightest mention of there name. When he got to third, the announcer said "and competing up a division...." and we knew Chanteurs had gotten third. It was an amazing accomplishment for our ninth grade only group to beat established Junior and Sophomore groups. What happened next was still better though. They kept announcing prep division awards and they kept coming to Protege, our Sophomore and Junior prep group. They received Best Male Soloist, Best Band, Best Choreography, Best Vocals, and Grand Champions of the prep division. When they went to the awards for the Varsity division I was scared. We had given it our best but our director said that the sound system was not on so we could not be heard very well. We were really hoping that we would do well so that we could have proof that we were a good show choir. Every time they announced a name it was a relief that it wasn't us. when they got to the captions, we got Best Band and then they announced that we had won the day round! We had done it even without a sound system so the next challenge was to keep it through the finals. We gave it our all and so did Protege.(plus the sound system was on) When they announced awards I had deja vu. They called sixth, fifth, and fourth without calling Protege's name. We had done it again. A group from Kennedy competing a division up had gotten third place. Then they did the caption awards. I thought we had lost it at first because Milton got Best Choreography but then they said Happiness inc had received Best Vocals and were the Grand Champions! We had finally done. Happiness inc 2010 had proved that they could be a winning show choir. We stormed the stage and everyone from Kennedy celebrated. In case you lost count, (cause I almost did), Cedar Rapids Kennedy groups had won every division and brought home 13 trophies altogether! It was truly the dream competition for my school and I couldn't have been happier.

What Happend at the Oscars?

I have often wondered whether I think the Oscars are given to the right people or movies or if it is just what the old, out of date Academy people think. It was an innocent question that I didn't think I would follow up on but that changed at this years Oscars.

I began by getting a list of the winners on Wikipedia. I think that I have only heard of about ten of the winners. That really surprised me. Why would the movies that everyone sees and enjoys not win the best picture? This thinking began after I watched the 2009 Oscars and saw Avatar lose. I was stunned by that. Avatar was a great story and a revolutionary movie with visual effects that were miraculously cool. But what makes it even harder to believe was that, in the history of the world, no movie has ever made more money than Avatar has made and it is still in theatres. Why would that not qualify the movie to be the best picture of the year.

I've thought about some of these things and there are some reasons for Avatar losing. One could have been the fact that it was a modern kind of story. The story itself is old and resembles that of Pocahontas with thats more action and twists. The problem is that this story takes place in a far away world over a hundred years in the future. The Hurt Locker, the movie that won best picture was about a real war in history not a fantasy war the someone made up. Avatar doesn't have real people playing the parts but CGI images so their emotions weren't actually theirs but the clever creation of an artist. I think that could have swayed some people, especially the Academy who seem to like traditional movies, to think that it was more impressive to see real people acting.

Although these reason I can see being way it didn't win, I still don't think that Avatar should have lost. All theatres charge the same price for movies and people go to movies that are good. So the best movies would make the most money right? The sad thing is that Avatar isn't the first movie to make billions and still lose out on best picture. Have you heard of Star Wars? How about Annie Hall? And yet the latter of the two won. It makes me wonder whether the academy takes a hint from the people around them or live in their own selfish minds.

I also hate that the movies that win best picture always seem to come out as close to the end of the year as possible. some come out New Years Day and can still win. People haven't even really had a chance to compare that movie to the rest from the year. I think that the Academy chooses the last movie they see because it is fresh in their mind. I can't find another reason for some of the movies that have won two win.

So what are your thoughts. Comment if you have anything to say. and if you want to learn about the Academy click here.

Songs About Medicines

As I was looking through the songs in Sweeney Todd before auditions this week I found a song called Senior Pirelii's Miracle Elixir. This song is funny and ridiculous but I realized that I had heard of other songs like that one.



This stuff is probably, as Sweeney describes it, piss, but it is supposed to grow your hair back. We have products like that in stores but what ever happened to the random people on the street selling you products that were "completely safe and effective"?

These others deal with love and less about actual health related matters.



Love Potion number Nine. the perfect love drink and the original. This song is the way I picture a gypsy making a love potion, mixing it in a sink and selling on the streets. But I don't no that aphrodisiacs work for real.



this is basically the modern version of Love Potion Number Nine. It is used at a bar by a rap singer and it is a drug more than likely. This is just another example of this type of song.

So why a theme about potions and elixers? I think it is because we write songs about what we are thinking about and, in the case of those, they wanted what the potion would have given them.

The Dark Side of the Theatre

In my theatre department, we have a streak of dark musical and plays being performed. I don't really don't understand why we have to do these dark shows but it is interesting. I have enjoyed performing in them even though they are a little depressing and evil. It is not that there haven't been happy shows in the middle of the dark ones but they are just fewer than the dark ones.



It all began sophomore year when I became the mutated plant from outer space, Audrey II. Yes. We did Little Shop of Horrors. It was a great show but it was extremely dark. The story is that in a small big city flower shop a dorky orphan buy finds an alien plant. he names it after his love interest, Audrey, and it starts to give the shop business. But he soon discovers that it eats humans and it will die if he doesn't feed it. He spends the rest of the show finding it food until it end up eating him and taking over the world. Great ending right?



The next show was Arsenic and Old Lace. It is the Story of the Brewster family. The sisters and aunts of the other characters are crazy and believe that they are doing old men a favor if they murder them and bury them in the basement of their house. Teddy, one of the boys, lives with his aunts and believes that he is Teddy Roosevelt. Mortimer is an up tight man who is trying to have a life of his own with his girlfriend but is to busy trying to help his crazy family to do that. and the final brother is Jonathan. He is a mass murderer and is coming home to hide. You can imagine the events that would follow with all of those characters in one house.



The next show that we are auditioning for this week is the bloodiest and must gruesome of them all, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street. It tells the story of Benjamin Barker who was a London barber until the judge steals his wife and child and exiles him for no reason. He returns and tries to get the judge to come to his shop so he can kill him but he won't. He goes crazy with his frustration and decides with the shop keeper below him that he would be doing the world a favor to kill those who are too pitiful. He kills people and makes them into meat pies and that is where the rest of the story starts.

So what will happen next? Well no one really knows. At this rate we will probably do more dark shows before we start doing happy ones. Maybe we will get back to shows like Cinderella which we did my freshman year. Shows that my little siblings will actually be able to see. But only time will tell.

Girls to Sing About

I am going to audition for Sweeney Todd and I was studying the music to figure out what I think the audition piece will be. I thought about what they would want for a guy and I think I found it. Johanna is the best guys solo in the show, in my opinion. It shows off the high rang that most of the guys would need and it would be a great test of the emotion the actor can use.



But looking at that song made me wonder, Why do guys seem to sing about there dream girls? If you look at other musicals, it is easy to find song titled Maria in West Side Story. That is, as you might have guessed, a song about Toni's love interest, Maria. The song has the name Maria in it thirteen times and it only has about forty words total! That guy was dedicated to the girl he just met.



And it isn't just musicals. I looked at some of my favorite songs on my iPod and found similar results. I would be surprised if you hadn't heard the song Jesse's Girl. It is the song about this guy who wants his friends girl friend. That has to be great for there friendship. But it is about a girl he dreams of so it belongs here.



This isn't only an old idea. No, no. Just a few years ago, the Plain White Tees brought out a song called Hey There Delilah. It's about this guy who is far from his girl and is missing her so he tries to tell her that everything will be alright someday. The title is enough to qualify this song for this post but, if not, the story does.



So why do guys have to make songs about there girls or crushes? I think that is up to you to decide but the obvious fact is they do in all areas of music and every decade. So who will the girls to sing about be in this new decade?

Why Don't They Care

In my family, we find ways that everyone in the family can come and see performances that we give. However, I know that this isn't always the case. Sometimes it is a ticket price issue or there is a really good reason for why they can't come and see there family perform. But often I feel that is not the case. I know people who's parents just decided not to come and watch them perform. It is a sad fact but not uncommon to have no one in the audience when you perform I feel and it shouldn't happen. Life is too short. Do not say that there will be other performances because you do not know that and you can't be sure that you will be able to see those. While at the District Speech competion a week ago, I watched a small section of the show "The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee." It is a funny show and you should check it out if you don't know it. In the show, there is a song about this issue: having no one to watch you perform. This girl, Olive Ostrovsky, is trying to spell a word meaning highly unrealistic, or wildly fanciful, and she day dreams that her parents are saying that they love her. Her mom is away in India on mission and her father is abusive and doesn't care about her. That is a whole other issue: child abuse. In 1999, an estimated 3,244,000 children were reportedly victims of child abuse and the number has grown since then. chlid abuse is a terrible thing. To learn more or see what you can do to help vist this site . Between neglect and abuse, poor Olive has all of the extremes. this is her song about it. I hope you enjoy it.



Here are the lyrics:

MR. PANCH (spoken)
Miss Ostrovsky. Chimerical

OLIVE (spoken)
May I have a definition?

MR. PANCH (spoken, voice fading out)
It means unreal, magical, visionary, wildly fanciful, highly unrealistic

OLIVE’S MOM
Ooooooooh
Ooooooooh

OLIVE
If I go to Washington
Will I be on my own?
Because if I go to Washington

OLIVE’S MOM
Aaaaaaaah

OLIVE
Who will be my chaperone?

OLIVE’S MOM
We always knew you were a winner
We saw it when you smiled
Start from the beginning
When you were a beginner
You were the perfect child
We always knew
We always knew
You were a champion
You sadness filled my room
Dear if you should feel my gloom
Blame it on me
Blame it on your Daddalee and Mammalee
‘Cause depression runs in our family

I love you
I love you
I love everything about you dear
And I swear it’s true
I love you

OLIVE’S DAD
I love you

OLIVE
And my dad says

OLIVE’S DAD, OLIVE’S MOM
I love you
I love everything about you [DAD: baby, MOM: babe]
And maybe it’s true
I love you

OLIVE
I wrote you a letter
How I found the spelling bee such fun
Mama, Mama, Mama
But you didn’t react
And you never asked me
If I’d join you in the Bombay sun
Mama, Mama, Mama
I had quietly packed
When are you returning?
I know we agreed
Tell me what you’re learning
Ma, I have, Oh God, this need
I think Dad is angry, Ma
And I do not know what to do
Mama, Mama, Mama
Shanti Shanti and all
I think he takes out on me
What he wants to take out on you
Mama, Mama, Mama
How I wish you were home
How I wish you were home
How I wish you were
Wish you were home

OLIVE’S MOM, OLIVE’S DAD
We always knew you were a winner

OLIVE
How I wish you were home

OLIVE’S MOM
A bathing beauty, you

OLIVE (overlapping Olive’s Mom)
How I wish you were
How I wish you were home

OLIVE’S DAD
God, we love the way you grew
Since you were born

OLIVE (overlapping Olive’s Dad)
How I wish you were
How I wish you were home

OLIVE’S MOM
Olive, we couldn’t be prouder

OLIVE
Mama, Mama, Mama
How I wish you were home

OLIVE’S MOM, OLIVE’S DAD (overlapping Olive)
Please let me say it
One time louder

OLIVE’S MOM, OLIVE’S DAD
I love you
I love you
I love everything about you [DAD: baby, MOM: dear]

OLIVE’S MOM
And I swear

OLIVE’S DAD
Baby

OLIVE’S MOM, OLIVE’S DAD
It’s true
I love you

OLIVE
Mama

OLIVE, OLIVE’S MOM, OLIVE’S DAD
I love you

OLIVE
I love you, Mama

OLIVE, OLIVE’S MOM, OLIVE’S DAD
I love you

OLIVE’S MOM, OLIVE’S DAD
I love everything about you [DAD: baby, MOM: dear]

OLIVE (overlapping Olive’s Mom, Olive’s Dad)
Mama
Mama

OLIVE’S MOM
And I swear

OLIVE’S DAD
Baby

OLIVE’S MOM, OLIVE’S DAD
It’s true
I love

OLIVE (spoken)
Chimerical. C-h-i-m-e-r-i-c-a-l. Highly unrealistic, wildly fanciful.

MR. PANCH (spoken)
That is correct.

OLIVE, OLIVE’S MOM, OLIVE’S DAD
I love you

Nothin' Suits Me Like a Suit

One of my favorite shows on tv I How I Met Your Mother. The chacters are outragious and I think that the story line is very good even though they are slightly adult. In that show, Barney Stinson, played by Neil Patrick Harris, is the player who can get any girl that he wants in the world. In the one hundredth episode, Barney bet that he could get with the hot bartender but there is a problem. He wears suits everywhere and everytime. He even has suit pajamas. The problem is that the bartender has just been dumped by a suit wearing man and unless Barney gives up his suits, he will lose the bet. This is his response when she asked him to make the choice. This is a great show and this episode was especially funny. He is a talented singer and dancer and I was impressed that this song came out of no where. Hope you enjoy this.



Here are the lyrics so you can sing along:
Nothing Suits Me Like A Suit
by Barney Stinson

I know what you’re thinking
What’s Barney been drinking?
That girl was smoking hot

Yes I coulda nailed her
But no it’s not a failure
‘Cuz there’s one thing she is not

To score a ten would be just fine
But I’d rather be dressed to the nines
It’s a truth you can’t refute
Nothing suits me like a suit


Picture a world where all the girls and boys
Are impeccably well dressed
That delivery guy in the jacket and tie
That puppy in the double-breast

That ’80s dude in mutton chops
That baby with a lollipop
That lady cop who’s kinda cute
Nothing suits ‘em like a suit

Wingman I can wear
They’re oh so debonair
The perfect way to snare
a girl with daddy issues

In navy blue or black
Check out this perfect rack
I want to give them a squeeze

Oh really? Then answer these questions
If you please

What would you do if you had to choose
Between your suits and a pot of gold? Suits.

What would you say
If you gave your suits away
In return you’d never grow old? Suits.

What would you pick
One million chicks
Or a single three-piece suit? It’s moot.

What if world peace
Were within your reach … Abbadabada I’m gonna stop you right there. It’s suits. Come on, Lily. Get your head outta your ass.

Two! Three! Four!

Girls will go and girls will come
But there’s only one absolute
Every bro on the go needs to know
That there’s no accepted substitute

I’m sorry suits, let’s make amends
My Sunday best are my best friends
Send casual Friday down the laundry chute

‘Cuz nothing suits the undisputed oft-saluted suitor of repute
Like a …. wait for it …
Suit!

Then again, she is pretty hot.

Avatar

If you haven't seen Avatar, the record breaking movie, you haven't lived. I have seen the movie twice and i will go again if I get the chance. There is so much to be impressed about. And I haven't even seen the 3-D version yet. The story is great. It teaches us about the respect for nature we should have and we don't. We are destroying the world and we know it but we don't do anything about it. In this movie, the humans are just like us. They are blind to what the Na'vi people see all around them: the life in nature that helps them survive. This causes a large struggle between the humans and the aliens. Or more appropriately, the Na'vi and the aliens, us.

The next impressive thing was the graphics. I love how well it was made. I can actually imagine a world just like Pandora existing. The animals remind me very much of dinosaurs. They are large reptilian looking creatures but they were similar enough to our animals here that we feel we can know what they would be like. They have these amazing pterodactyl like creatures called Ikran, or as the humans call them banshees. They ride them through the skies and hunt and fight with them. These creatures are loyal to only one in their life and campletely awesome.

The last thing that I think is amazing is something kind of subtle: the language. The language, Na'vian, that was used in the movie is actually a language. It has it's own rules for how it works and hundreds of words that you can actually use to speak with. Go to www.learnnavi.org/ to learn how to actually use the language, if you have time.

This such a great movie and the best part is, James Cameron, the director and writer, says that he is planning to make to sequels. so for all of you like me who are in love with Avatar in just a few years there will be a sequel that can break records for its gross income and that will restart the Avatar mania.

Eric Whitacre

A couple months ago, my AP Music Theory teacher told us about this person named eric Whitacre. We were discussing what happend after the common practice period of music and he just came up. Since then, however, this song of his has been haunting me. It is called "When David Heard." It is very sad and impressive. There is a part where there are 18 second intervals stacked on top of each other. With vocals like that, you can't help but be intrigued. It is too long to be in one video so I will put it on in two.





and here is a great california show choir doing a condensed version.