It's the most wonderful time.......

Well folks and so it begins. Yup that time of season, where all of your plans are screwed up by family members. So while most folks in New England (well at least the ones I know) are hoping to sit on a couch in pajamas, watching the Patriot's game at 12:30, they'll actually be forced to conform to some required tradition of spending time with family even if you don't want to.

Now I've been fortunate in that I have never had to worry about traveling during Turkey Day or Christmas cause most of my family lives local. But consider this,since I see them pretty frequently why do I have to spend one more day with them? Sounds good on paper but it never works in reality. So, alas, here I am, catering to nieces who want Strawberry/Rhubarb pie (going to Wilson's in Lexington the day before Thanksgiving is oh so fun); planning on DVR'ing the Patriots game cause I have to pick up my Aunts during the game (getting them out of their Ms. Havisham apartment is a blog unto itself); and knowing that I'll be hearing various family stories that I've heard 95 thousand times before.

So am I bitter? Well hell yes I am. Will I be bitter all day? Most likely not. And that's what the Holidays mean to me: Realizing your family can suck one minute and then be fun the next. And be happy that they are around so when you do want to hang out with them, you can. So embrace, focus, and center. It'll all be over in 24 hours, really. Wow, could this someone be the end of a Walton's Show? Nah, I don't think so.

Enjoy the holiday and time spent with your family, friends, significant others, or Football!

The Hills are Still Alive.......

Ah indeed can you smell that fresh mountain air? Well you should be as today marks the day that the The Sound Of Music opened on Broadway in 1959. As a kid this was my favorite musical and movie for quite some time. Now I did listen to the Broadway Cast album with Mary Martin and Theordor Bikel but the movie is what I love. Why? Well because I always wanted to sing like Julie Andrews (good god who wouldn't?) and I wanted to marry Christopher Plummer. Yup at the ripe old age of 6 I knew I was destined to love men with amazing voices, actors and 20 years older than me. (ooh ha-thanks cause that's going real well for me in the real world). When I went to visit my aunts I would spend forever holding that Soundtrack album cover and perfecting my yodeling skill in "Lonely Goat Herd". Anyway, I could sit here and describe everything I love about the music and the movie and maybe I will at a later date, but right now I just want to give a bit of a shout out to something that I'll always hold dear in my heart. This is something that I never grow tired of seeing, makes me still smile when Lisel sneeks out of the house and meets Rolf and sings "16 going on 17" and makes me still hope that one day somewhere in the future I'll be meeting my "Christopher Plummer" in a gazebo. sigh...oh well

Also to note, for anyone who has a chance to see "Fraulein Maria" by Doug Elkins do so. It's a joyous celebration of The Sound of Music and when I saw it as part of the ArtsEmerson season at the newly renovated Paramount, I was struck by how wonderfully diverse the crowd was. I had a dude in his 20's next to me with a Red Sox cap singing to "Do Re Mi", a very sweet elderly couple chuckling during the dance to "How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria" and everyone watching in wonder at the wonderful and amazing dance set to "Climb Every Mountain". And that's what's amazing about The Sound of Music. It still can bring joy to young and old alike, and inspire the creation of more artistic wonders. Thank you Rodgers and Hammerstein. Job well Done.

Our little boy's all grown Up!

In light of the release of "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" (part 1) I figured I'd post this photo of Daniel Radcliffe in his upcoming role in the Hammer horror production of the Gothic thriller, and very popular British Ghost Story, "The Woman in Black." Little Harry is all grown up (well he's only 5' 6" or so so he didn't grow that tall) ...but well you get the drift....

A short blog is I guess better than no blog. One of the things I'm trying to work on is to get motivated to get a bit more constant in my blog entries.....well we'll see how it goes.