Oh To Be A Redhead

Happy Saint Patrick's Day everybody!
It's so cliche to say this kind of snuck up on me, but it did.
I have no defense except the same as everyone else - being busy - so I refer you to one of the greatest videos EVER, posted by none other than one of the greatest sister-in-laws EVER.
It made me laugh so hard I cried.
Beaker - there are no words.
Silly though it be, I am happy to dress up for the holiday - no green beer for me thank you - especially now that I have appropriate colors to wear. My wardrobe has come a long way from the first Saint Patrick's Day at my second job where I got pinched a few times by wise guys who weren't willing to accept (admittedly dark) olive as a shade of green. It was the only thing in my closet that even resembled green.
Weird, I know.
No stripes, no buttons, nothing was green. Happily I have remedied that fact in the years since.
In the end, today I will have worn three different green outfits - not because I couldn't decide but because I had a couple of places to be and the dress was different each time.
I wore jeans and a green striped T-shirt back from my parents' house.
A really green sweater with my black skirt to the appointment with the missionaries.
And Tarzan's favorite green striped nightgown will be what I wear to bed.
No one can say I don't make the effort.

This is me with no pictures, because I never think of it until it is too late. Maybe next year.

I Think They Should Be Included

I realize St. Patrick's Day was over a week ago, but there are still Irish themed shows on my DVR from that day and one thing I have noticed as I wade through them all; - in the discussions of music and influence especially - where are the Irish Rovers? It seems a blatant oversight that they get no mention.
They are the first group that I knew of that had a folksy, banjo-y sound - remember I was an 80's baby and it was all synthesizer, all the time when I was growing up. It was listening to The Irish Rovers that awakened an interest in my ancestry and in Ireland.
Were they omitted because they were famous only after they moved to Canada? Despite having all been born in Ireland, and immigrating merely to get wider coverage? And yet Michael Flatley gets tons of coverage, interviews and air time and he, he is from Chicago.
That's right boys and girls, the Lord Of The Dance was not born or raised anywhere near the Emerald Isle.
I guess I understand Enya receiving accolades for increasing the awareness of Irish music but what about U2? Bono gets to stick his rock and roll colored glasses in for comments quite often.
And it's not just modern artists either; The Dubliners, The Clancy Brothers and The Chieftains all got mentions and interviews if there was someone left alive or descended from one of the members.
And nothing about the The Irish Rovers. I think it's a royal gyp. I love them and I think they deserve a mention and so here is one of my favorite songs of theirs:


This is me and I feel The Irish Rovers could at least get a mention.

Doing A Jig In My Head

I am back - barely - and I am proud to say that I was part of a three person team who moved an upright grand piano out of a moving truck, down a ramp, across ten feet of sand, up a brick porch, across a threshold and into a living room - all without scratching anything, or killing anyone.
It was a moving miracle.
But that, and a large number of other things also needing to be moved, did a number on my arms, hands, shoulders, back, knees, hips, feet, and shins. Are there any parts left? If so they probably hurt too. So my celebration of the Green did not involve dancing.
Maybe next year.
I did not deny my ancestors however. I proudly displayed the colors:
Target, 2/$1.00. And doesn't my hair look really red today?


This is me, and Happy St. Patrick's Day everybody!

Totally Awesome

The concert last night was so amazing. ATL and I saw Celtic Woman live last night and it was everything I hoped it would be. I was a little worried at the beginning. We had never been to this theater before and the parking was a really weird arrangement. The seating was smaller than I expected, which was to the good, until we got to our seats and saw that while we would be able to hear them sing, the likelihood of seeing them was small. It was a tight angle. But then, as the lights went down, we saw that most of the chairs over by the edge of the rail in the terrace were empty and we, along with about twenty other people, scooted over the aisle to what ended up being really great seats.

We saw it and it was good.

They sang all my favorite songs not the least of which were these four:
The Dawn And The Sky And The Sun
The Call
The Blessing AND The Voice - love me some Lisa Kelly.

There were not as many new Irish songs as I was maybe expecting and I can't say as I am a huge fan of the "new" girls. I miss Meav though I understand why she isn't with the group right now and it gives me hope she will be back. Lynne was pretty good as her replacement but where was Orla? She's still on the poster...Maybe she and her harp were sick? Can that happen in such a tight interwoven group? Anyway, Alex just doesn't have the precision that Orla does and she doesn't play the harp. So there.

If it sounds like I'm whining, I'm not. Chloe and Lisa were as awesome as ever and the band was excellent - especially the percussionists, I always like the drummers - and the whole experience of seeing them live was well worth it. My opinion of Mairead has changed considerably from seeing her play live. That woman is athletic! It's like she directs the whole show from on stage - maybe that's the point - and I had to hold my breath watching her jump off the dais in her heels, while fiddling madly and tossing her hair. She was just amazing.

I don't remember the play list of the whole night but besides the ones listed above I was much pleased to see "At The Ceili" especially as it's not on any of their CDs, and ATL was so excited when they encored with "Spanish Lady."

It was a simply glorious experience and I will be purchasing the CD and/or DVD of the Isle Of Hope tour.

This is me, back from the concert and it was worth the chilly night air.

The Call

I can't find a video that has the group singing this live but it rocks nonetheless:



This is me, hoping they perform this one in three weeks.

The Sky And The Dawn And The Sun

This is one of my new favorite songs:

This is me, liking the cascading melody. And the crescendos of course.

Sisters

Since ATL moved out to go to school I have been surprised at how much I miss her. I hadn't realized how much time we had spent together when she lived with us and how much of a void there is now that she lives at school. School's really not that far away and we see her every other week - laundry day you know - and sometimes in between, but it's not the same. So I was glad for the chance to pick her up from work last night and go shopping. Nothing as therapeutic as shopping.
I was also glad for Target's penchant for jumping the gun holiday style. Despite Valentine's Day being in a week, the first thing to assault our eyes when walking through the automated front doors was a sea of green and sparkly. I do love me some green and sparkly. All the St. Patrick's Day stuff was out and I could not have been happier. We bought some silly glasses for another sister, tried on many hats that have nothing to do with the Emerald Isle other than the color scheme and I got this for our dining room-that's-really-a-hall between the living room and kitchen:I don't know if it's inherently Irish either, but it's a nice sentiment and just what I needed to hear yesterday.

This is me, glad for some retail therapy.

Eight Is Great

The show: Too. Many. Dances. Thirteen couples is a lot of people to keep track of. Suffice it to say that there was lots of dancing, Cody and Julianne had an awesome song (I Want You To Want Me), Cloris was hilarious again, Bruno said Rocco had "hips of fury" and I was sad but not surprised when Jeffrey got sent home. Stupid way to open a season though; standing for two hours, no warm up time, and all the stress of wondering. Plus there was one more dance to do after we found out who was going home? Weird. Uncomfortable I would think.
The apology: Well, now I feel the right loser of a person. After crying like a child day before yesterday, Keah went and edited her blog so that I could shut the freak up and just post the meme. I am such a whiner. And she is such a nice person. I don't deserve to be her in my next life.
(And here I am whining again! Gah! Is there a whiners anonymous or a whiners rehab a person could check into?)
The meme as promised from two days ago:
8 Things I'm Passionate About

1. Tarzan
2. Family
3. The gospel
4. Wicked
5. Fairness
6. Anything Irish
7. Stephanie J. Block
8. College Football

8 Words Or Phrases I Say Often

1. Dude
2. Groovy
3. Oy
4. Seriously?
5. I love you three
6. What's up?
7. Bad kitty
8. Honey, can you reach that?

8 Things I Want To Do Before I Die

1. Cruise Greek islands
2. Visit Australia
3. Tour Europe
4. Have a bunch of kids
5. Remodel my house (this one or another one)
6. Serve a couples mission for the church
7. Have a big garden
8. Own a Saturn Sky convertible - in forest green

8 Things I Pray For

1. Peace
2. Our families
3. Tarzan
4. The neighborhood
5. Continued safety
6. The government
7. Continued health
8. The kids at church

8 Things I Have Learned

1. Tarzan is awesome
2. The proper equipment makes ALL the difference
3. I cannot tell a joke well
4. How to work the DVR
5. Humor is essential for all relationships
6. Pie crust is very temperamental
7. My thumb is only a little bit green
8. To not say everything I am thinking

and now I tag Rocketgirl, RHM and PhatFiddle.

This is me, tagged! Whoot.

Burn Notice

My new favorite thing this summer is Burn Notice. We watched it last summer too, and it was awesome then, but somehow we missed the first three episodes and seeing them all again from the beginning this last month as they replayed before the second season premiere explained SO MANY THINGS, that I am struck anew at just how cool this show is. Really. It's about a guy who was a spy and he gets burned. In trying to find out who had him "fired" from the spy business he takes on 'jobs' wherein he explains to us - the viewer - how the spy business works. Jeffrey Donovan is really good as the lead. And I love Fiona. Sam is a good foil but not too stupid. The dialogue is funny without being cheesy or over dramatic or overplayed. The characters are just the right amount of cool and vulnerable. I know I sound like I am getting paid to write this and I wish I was, but it is just that good. Maybe I just like Irish chicks who get to shoot a lot of stuff...Check it out.

This is me, loving the Burn Notice.

Celtic Woman

I'm a little late to the party...I know. I usually am. But that doesn't mean the group is any less spectacular. I am of course talking about the singing sensations sweeping the nation right now: Celtic Woman.

I have mentioned before that I love all things Irish, but I do hate to jump on a bandwagon - I am not a joiner for the sake of joining. There are a few exceptions. This being one of them.

From left to right they are; Lisa, Chloe, Orla, Meav and Mairead. There is not a doubt that any of them are talented. They all sing except Mairead who plays the violin/fiddle like a fiend. Does anyone else make judgements about a person having never met them? (Stephanie J. Block may not be the paragon of personage I make her out to be but one can forgive a lot for a talent like that.) I do. Facial expressions, posture, hands, smile. They all compile in my brain to give me a likely false impression of a person. A famous person at least.

Lisa I love. She is pretty of course - they all are. She's also a mother, from Ireland and she stands still when she sings. Her arms don't move, they're relaxed when she sings. In fact she seems very natural on stage. And she doesn't close her eyes. On such shallow things do I base my opinion. (Her website is green!)

Chloe is really young. She's 15 or 16 which seems really young. I have very little opinion one way or another regarding her. Is that sad? She closes her eyes some of the time but her arms are good.

Orla strikes me as the diva of the group. No idea why. She certainly seems nice enough in her interviews. Maybe it's because she also plays the harp and is very straight when she sings. Almost stiff. She also has a pointy nose that could be stuck up.

Meav reminds me of a blogger that I read - in looks only, and that only slightly - but because I don't agree with the blogging woman, I have a gut rejection of Meav. That seems unfair I know but what can I do? She also moves her arms a lot and closes her eyes when she sings.

Mairead is the fiddle player and she is amazing. She also flips her hair A LOT while playing and I figure it must be a learned thing so she moves more while performing but I can't say I care for it. The first time I saw her play I thought she ought to tie it back, but then I realized she does it on purpose. I know not why.

So that's my preference. Based purely on appearances. And likely not accurate. But whatevs. Not like I will meet them ever you know?

This is me, lovin' the heritage. (Not that they're related to me but you know)

Green Is My Color

Happy St.Patrick's Day everybody! I don't know why I have such an affinity for Ireland and it's traditions - it's not like I've ever been there - and my father's ancestors immigrated so many moons ago it's ridiculous. But, somewhere in my youth, or childhood, I was disproportionally pleased to discover that my family was of Irish descent. And it continues even today. Any mention of Ireland perks my ears up, LOVE the lilt of Gaelic though I can't understand a word and can barely pronounce some of the syllables. Celtic Woman, The Pirate Queen, Riverdance; love them all. My favorite storyline on Heroes is Peter's because he finds his girl in a bar in Ireland. I still believe somewhere in Ireland is a castle waiting for me. (Some girls dream of a prince but I want the castle.) I guess it shows, Tarzan wrote me poetry when we were dating and called me his "Irish dream..." what can I say, we were young and silly. Maybe it's also that the festivities fall near the first of spring but I love St. Patrick's Day. If I were a drinker I would totally go out to the bars and have green beer. I bought a new shirt last weekend in honor of the day - one of the $5 Target ones - with "Everyone Loves An Irish Girl" across the chest. It's awesome. So eat some soda bread or some corned beef and cabbage, go green and let out your inner leprechaun!!
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On a totally separare topic; as mentioned previously The Odyssey: A Musical was very well received at the conference for the youth and we have received a number of accolades for it. The down side to all of this is that I can't in good conscious post it here for you to see because it is an exercise in plagiarism. I ripped images from a lot of sites, including famous artwork and photos and just Photoshopped the copyright symbol out...While we did not make any money from the show I feel a little apprehensive about throwing it out there for all to see. Should anyone want a copy THAT badly, email me and I will send it.

This is me, getting ready - DWTS begins tonight, and on that note: this is pretty funny.

This Season

No doubt you're tired of me whining about Dancing With The Stars. I kinda feel like that's all I blog about. So. Suffice it to say that Wayne should have gone home weeks ago, Albert should still be with us, and likely Helio will win so Julianne can claim back-to-back championships like Cheryl and let's talk about the other shows we're watching this fall.

• Pushing Daisies is not a show we had planned on watching but when the trailer showed Kristin Chenoweth was in it, we HAD to see the pilot episode and wouldn't you know she's a regular cast member! (Love that her character name is Olive Snook) Plus it's a way cute show in a fairy tale kind of way with the sets and the narrator aspect, and the girl - Anna Friel - looks a lot like Karen Carpenter. Lee Pace is adorable, very dry delivery and Chi McBride is surprisingly funny. All excellent reasons to check it out.
• Big Shots was vetoed for it's adult and highly revealing content. Too bad because it had a good plot and some great dialogue. And Michael Vartan is amazingly hot.
• Journeyman is really intriguing. Very sympathetic character. Not sure where its going to go but I think we'll watch to see. Interesting that the other female lead's real name is Moon Bloodgood. Who were her parents?
• Heroes is aMAZing of course. We are hoping it doesn't get too confusing with all the characters - it's like a TV War and Peace - but it's really exciting. Loving the Irish angle right now. It's been an Irish kind of year with The Black Donellys, it got cancelled, then The Pirate Queen and Grania, the book, then The Wind That Shakes The Barley (was a very good movie - LOVE Cillian Murphy) and now this show too. Pretty cool. Gotta represent yo'.
• Cane is not a period piece as we had hoped so don't know if we will stay with it. Jimmy Smitts is an excellent choice for the part. He's the "good" guy but when the good guy starts killing people I don't know how long he can remain the good guy. Maybe we will keep watching it. LOVE that Rita Moreno is in it.
• Law & Order: SVU is way cool still. Loved the season opener.

Guess that's all. Haven't even seen ER yet, which is way sad...

This is me, lovin' the Irish.

Willpower and much linkage

OMG - I changed my mind. In my next life I want to be Hadley Fraser.
So I waited (be proud of me - it was hard) until we picked A up from The Desert last night to listen to The Pirate Queen soundtrack. It was thrilling, simply thrilling. I really, really, REALLY hope that the producers can get enough support and backers to do a national tour because I NEED to see this show. I know, I know; it won't be Stephanie or Hadley, but it would be good even if *I* sang it. (Well, probably not, but you know what I mean.) The music is lovely - Irish in lilt and I like that. Perhaps because my background is Irish, I don't know. The characters are strong and the voices...don't even pretend like you don't know how good they are by now.
Stephanie J. Block rocks. I'm not sure why there's a rumor that she sounds/looks like Celine Dion. (I think she looks more like Barbara Streisand but that's something else.) Celine kinda screeches - I think her voice sounds thin sometimes. Stephanie has power, she can hit the notes and mean it. She's also a really nice person and she's involved in her characters. She really becomes the person she's portraying and I love her for that. I am seriously thinking of becoming a Blockhead (check out the first definition), that's how much I like her. Plus her favorite charity is the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. Always a place in my heart for those people.
Interestingly enough, perhaps because I wasn't a Broadway LOVER (liker, for sure but not a Tony-watching, interview-following lover) until Wicked (which is an "estrogen-fest" according to Tarzan) , there wasn't a male performer I liked enough to get behind (i.e. obsess about). And then I found [heard, drooled over, watched ALL the comcast episodes, preview videos, special appearances, lurked his website and determined the need to worship for all time] Hadley Fraser. Wow. He can sing, amazingly well. He has a Brtish accent. Wow. So cute, really funny, humble, so cute and yet self depreciating and did I mention he's SO CUTE? His voice is strong enough to hold against Stephanie (I just can't quite call her Steph yet.) and hers is strong enough to go up against his. Makes for some great duets. (He's perfect, she's perfect and they're perfect together!) Plus, the character he plays is a totally sweet, gorgeous, noble guy. How could every girl in every audience NOT fall in love with him? Awesome. (On second thought, maybe I just WANT Hadley Fraser...!)
Then. Today. I discovered there is a Bonus Track CD, which has three (3!) songs not included on the CD that I have. So, do I buy a whole new CD? Do I pay for the downloads of the individual songs? If I do the download then I can burn an entirely new copy of the CD, figure out where the additional songs go chronologically and have even that much more of the show to pretend I am seeing. The benefit of the new CD is that the lyrics come too. Ehn. What a choice.

So yeah...say it with me now, national tour, baby, national tour.

This is me wishing.

Update: What she said.