Thoughts at 2 a.m…

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…over cafe mocha. No going back to sleep now, lemmetellya. HA

Well don’t you know, something woke me up at 2:07. Don’t know what it was, but going back to sleep — as much as I wanted to do it — wasn’t happening. Try as I might to turn off my mind, relax and float downstream, something (or things) kept getting in the way.

S’ok. I’m up now. It’s 4:30 and almost time to get ready for the day and rehearsal tonight. By bedtime, I will have been awake for 21 hours — awesome! I wish I had a Keurig to keep at school. Wait, no I don’t. After two cafe mochas yesterday morning, I was  about jazzed out of my mind. Zing! Haha. Stretched as tight as a drum head. Yeah, I should probably stick to decaf tea at the school house. Do the kids a favor. :-)

Anyway, the overriding thought that kept me awake this morning was wishing that everything in my life was OK. It just can’t be that way, can it? Or can it? Seems when you look at the whole picture, no matter how positive and happy things are, there’s always that one issue that bugs the ka-rap out of you. So goes my early morning this day. Wishing I could fix that one thing, but not knowing how.

Gotta let that go.

But hey, guess what? Finkday comes two days early this week. Tomorrow morning, the Thriller drops me off in Columbus for OMEA convention, and picks me up Saturday noon, whereupon we will take off for a mini getaway till Sunday night. Much needed, given my schedule for the next three months.

So yay, no school for me tomorrow or Friday. And all the singers rejoiced.

Today’s wisdom: We cannot change what people think of us. They have to change it, and sometimes it doesn’t matter what we do to bring them around, they still won’t change their minds. I chase the bright, elusive butterfly of how to reconcile myself to it.

Wow, that was heavy. I really need to lay off the cafe mochas, yikes.

One down…

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…a hundred to go.

Last night’s first Grease rehearsal was fun. It’s a fine cast, full of nice people who I’m sure will work hard. The pit will be a blast; I finally got my guitar player, and it will be fun to work with some colleagues (and #1 Son on drums) again. Rock und roll.

With craziness from now through the weekend with rehearsals, appointments and my muzik geek convention coming up, I am going to be one ratty fink. A little LINsanity of my own. Heh.

Happy Tunesday — I have to get this Root Touch-Up out of my hair. Ugh. /me hates gray. Does everyone (well, except Suzanne!) have Presidents Day off?

RNF LV

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Random Neuron Firings

Some good advice on a Monday morning:

I think “Creative” could easily be replaced with “Sane,” “Balanced,” “Content…” Pick one.

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Impress your friends at the next party.

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Stumbled upon Remember the War last night. Awesome “capsule history” site, putting WWII into a timeline/multimedia perspective. Very well done.

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Somebody, sometime, is going to get this as a birthday cake. It’s my next major project.

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And then after that, there’s this.

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From the Smithsonian. Has it been that long ago that these little demons were introduced to the American public?

Speaking of little demons…time to get ready to go shape young voices. It’s a three-day school week for me. How bad can that be? Hmmm. We shall see, Grasshopper. We shall see.

:P

Review: Kisses on the Bottom

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The Thriller surprised me yesterday by bringing home Paul McCartney’s new album. Wow! He’s the greatest (the Thriller, I mean — well, Paul too, but…)

Silly pun in the title notwithstanding*, this is a serious project. Lots of pop/rock singers do it at some point in their careers: make an album of standards. These are, according to the liner notes, many of the songs McCartney grew up listening to and singing along with at what he calls “family sing-songs” during his youth. And, true to his longstanding reputation as a relentless showman and shrewd artist, he surrounded himself with major league heavy hitters: Eric Clapton, John Pizzarelli, Diana Krall, Stevie Wonder, and some amazing studio players. Light strings here and there for icing purposes, but otherwise it’s just Paul and a rhythm section. Good choice.

Cleveland-born Tommy LiPuma produced, adding to his impressive litany of Grammy-winning home runs from the likes of Miles Davis, Barbra Streisand, Diana Krall, Natalie Cole and George Benson. Sounds like a shoo-in for at least a nomination at the end of the year. So here’s my take, after listening to it twice.

Let’s get this said: Paul is no jazz singer, and he’s a marginal crooner. Therefore, a couple of the songs just didn’t work. As flawlessly produced as the record is, you still can’t escape a poor musical fit, and those do happen. “More I Cannot Wish You” and “Always” are forgettable. “Paper Moon” is also weak, but Paul’s somewhat clumsy vocals are rescued in fine style by the band, featuring amazing violinist/singer Andy Stein (listen to him here on his own album, doing “Fit as a Fiddle”).

One song in particular, however, lets Paul be Paul. Listening to the bluesy track, “Get Yourself Another Fool,” I found myself thinking, “Ah, here’s the voice we all know and love.” The reserve and control employed throughout the other songs dissipates here, and we get more of a Wings feel. Not “Oh, Darlin'” by any means, but he seems to loosen his necktie just a bit.

So, it’s a careful recording (in his defense, he admits to feeling intimidated by all the jazz players and singers in the studio), but a pleasant listen and a fantastic effort, considering the guy will be 70 years old this June and is still touring and going at it like his hair’s on fire.

I hope I’m like that, 18 years from now. :-)

OK, what’s up for you this weekend? I did another Comfort Foodie post last night — wow, delicioso. Tonight, we have the Js, and tomorrow is movie-and-dinner-date time with the Thriller. Monday? The Grease rehearsal schedule officially begins. Here we go…

*While it’s hard to believe McCartney didn’t foresee the snickering it would cause, the punny album title does make sense. The opening track, “I’m Gonna Sit Right Down and Write Myself a Letter,” references finishing a love note by drawing “kisses on the bottom.”

*yawn*

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It’s the weekend! At least for me. No school for the Fink today.

So, should I be ashamed to admit that we watched Horrible Bosses last night, and laughed out loud? Probably. But there you have it. It’s an awful story featuring horrifyingly dreadful people doing unspeakably vicious things; I won’t even review it. But I have to admit, there are some gosh dang funny scenes in it. Embarrassingly, brainlessly funny. Ridiculous.

:-)

Looking forward to later this afternoon. Let the weekend begin!