Random Collected Videos

Not wanting to spend lots of time blogging tonight, but wanted to share a few videos.... 

So I heard this old song for the first time a few weeks ago and fell in love with it.  It's such a sweet, sweet love song. I know it's bluegrass and some people aren't crazy for that, but I think it's absolutely beautiful.


 "I Heard the Bluebirds Sing," by the Browns



This video is ADORABLE. (Thanks, Will!)


So freaking cute.


Speaking of thanks to Will, he's on a roll as he also shared this amazing find tonight....



The 1967 televised Tony's. The first televised Tony Awards.

I haven't watched it yet, I want to be able to sit down and devote time to it. But look at those names. Gower Champion. Zero Mostel. Carol Burnett. David Merrick.

This is AWESOME.

Congrats to the Kings!

The LA Kings won their first Stanley Cup tonight in their 40+ year history! Which is awesome and I'm excited for them.

Their goalie's daughter decided to show up at the press conference and steal the show. She's pretty cute, so check out the video:



Congrats, guys!! You looked so happy and I'm happy for you!

(If you want more on the Cup or the games, I have no doubt Will will be detailing it out further soon.)

(My favorite tweet of the night came from Wil Wheaton: "Local LA sports media is trying to figure out how the Sacramento Kings won the Stanley Bowl Trophy for Basketpuck tonight. Good job, guys.")

The Theatre Round-Up

We haven't talked theatre in awhile and I did do some catching up tonight.

Apparently, Newsies is on its way to becoming a stage musical at the Paper Mill Playhouse, with Menken back at the musical helm and Harvey Fierstein with a new script. The newest additions/changes to the familiar story are the addition of a reporter love interest and "Santa Fe" now being at the top of the show. Take a look at the video and tell me what you think.
Also, you should note Andrew Keenan-Bolger's name in the lineup as Crutchie - you may remember his sister Celia Keenan-Bolger as Olive in the Broadway version of 25th Putnam County Spelling Bee.



Check this out: George Lee Andrews has played in Phantom of the Opera ever since it opened on Broadway in 1988 and will be performing his final show tomorrow night. This will be his 9,382nd performance. That's nine-thousand. He currently holds the Guinness World Record for the longest run in the same show (I would certainly hope so!) He played Firmin for years, but to give some fresh life to his performance, they switched him over to Andre in 2000. I've never seen Phantom on Broadway, but now I wished at some point I had to possibly catch his performance. Sure, I wouldn't have known it at the time, but I would've loved to have gone back to that playbill now to see.
I'm so sad I had never heard of this guy until now! Bravo to an insanely long run, Mr. Andrews!

Eh. This is totally rumor mill, but here you go anyway. Supposedly, they're back to making a movie musical rendition of Les Miserables. This is nothing new. This has been on again, off again for years. According to the article, its being currently developed by Working Title & Universal and will be directed by Tom Hooper of Kings Speech. And, of course, the rumors are the stars involved and the most recent one is Anne Hathaway as Fantine.
While we're discussing rumors, here's other names being bandied about:
"According to www.itsonthegrid.com, additional actors being courted for the film have included Russell Crowe for Javert, Geoffrey Rush for Thenardier, Helena Bonaham Carter for Madame Thenardier, Hayden Panettiere, Miranda Cosgrove, Lucy Hale and Emma Watson for the roles of Eponine and Cosette, and Amy Adams and Rebecca Hall for Fantine."

While in the midst of looking up some of those names, I learned Rebecca Hall is actually the daughter of director Peter Hall! Interesting. And though not in that particular listing, Hugh Jackman is supposed to be set for Javert and one of the ones pushing the project.
After Phantom, I'm not really crazy about this. The idea of a star-studded cast trying to sing its way through this score doesn't really thrill me. Blah blah blah, they only have to get it right once, blah blah blah.
Buuut who knows, maybe they will be able to sing this time. Sacha Baron Cohen rocked Sweeney. Ewan McGregor caught everyone totally off guard. I'm totally willing to go with it if they can find singers. And who knows if it will ever actually be made anyway.

Frank Wildhorn's new show will be arriving soon on Broadway: Bonnie & Clyde will be in previews November 4th with opening set for December 1st. Lyrics by Don Black of Andrew Lloyd Webber fame: Sunset Boulevard, Aspects of Love and Tell me On a Sunday. (Also, apparently his first big hit was writing the lyrics for Bond's Thunderball theme. Thank you, Wikipedia!)

And I kept trying to find one more piece of news, but nothing else has really caught my attention. Anything interest anyone else?

Update on Cirque: Zarkana

I actually wrote this post weeks ago when Zarkana was first getting notice, but unfortunately it got shoved in my draft drawer and has lived there since. Anyway, for what its worth....

Cirque, to me, is often art for arts sake. Bizarre for the sake of being bizarre. Beauty for the sake of creating something beautiful. I love that about their work. I think that's partially why I was disappointed in KA even though it was one of their greatest technical works at that time (and potentially, still is.) In KA they built it around a fully realized story. Which was fine. But it lost some of its wonder to me. Mystere, which is by far my favorite, has no real story and is one of their oldest productions. It is thinly tied together by recurring images. And I was in awe the whole time.

(Of course, the beautiful artwork on the ceiling of that particular theatre helped.)

If you ever go to Vegas, see Mystere.

Now, Zarkana!

"Zarkana, according to Cirque notes, “is a fantastically bizarre world where we follow the adventures of Zark, a magician who has lost his love and, with her, his powers. As he cries and begs for her return he is plunged into a world inhabited by surreal creatures. The diverse cast of 71 international artists transports the audience into a fantastical and suspenseful world, blurring the boundaries between the real and imaginary.”

It looks like this is a return to loose stories. Yes, there is a tie between images, but the focus is not in fleshing out the story but in the creations that come from it. I wouldn't like that in all mediums, but for Cirque it works. At least for me.
It also looks like this show includes sand painting, which I would love to see how they handle. The shadow puppetry in KA is one of my favorite moments in theatre and was incredibly beautiful.

(If you have not seen this video of sand painting from Britain's Got Talent you really have to stop and watch it. It just blows my mind every time.)


Distracted. Back to Cirque.

All that to say: their latest video really excites me. I'm a huge Cirque fan. And even though its at Radio City Music Hall and will probably never tour (since it was built specifically for that space), I still want to make sure you at least see the clip.

Video of Zarkana! Cirque's newest addition to their already amazing lineup:

Roadtrip #3: Back to Houston!

This is why I went missing for a few days. :)

The Accident
Unfortunately, the Friday before I was supposed to head down to Houston my driver's sideview mirror was destroyed. All I really saw was the truck in front of me kick up a very long pipe and that pipe flying through the air. At the last second I threw my arm up to cover my face because it was headed straight for the windshield. But instead of a crash I heard a thud and to my joy glanced up to find absolutely no damage to my windshield.

And then I tried to change lanes with my sideview mirror.

Also, alas, the hood was scratched so deeply it had hit the metal and was eventually going to rust away. So suddenly my car was going into the shop and I had to find a replacement if I was still to go - barring I could still go with insurance/rental issues - but my insurance company was really awesome and I was thrilled. So the plan was still in place.

(I realize I'm really, really lucky that nothing worse happened, so this fix was not.a.big.deal. Sideview mirror? Doable.)

The Rental & Eight Hours, Going Once
I've never rented a car before. So when the lady asked me whether I would like a mid-size or full-size sedan, and explained that my Altima would essentially be a full-size and that I would probably get one, I decided to go with what I knew. However, in the back of my head there was this constant nagging doubt that I should've gone with the mid-size.

When the driver came to pick me up in a Mercury Sable, I suddenly felt all those doubts rise to the surface. It was an older model, so the thought of gas mileage alone scared me, and it certainly wasn't something I wanted to drive in Houston traffic. (I learned to drive in my grandfather's Buick, and I've just never been a fan of driving that size of car. I have trouble judging distances anyway - and once nearly backed into the fence early on - so I don't need any extra length added.)

Finally though, after being told that this was all they had, a nice lady popped up in the back and said there was a mid-size Ford Focus if I was interested.

Yes. Yes, please.

All that to say: go with your instincts.

The car was great and I managed to slide through all the big cities without traffic, so the drive down was perfect. I was really nervous about taking an unfamiliar car all that way, so I was really grateful this turned out so well. God is good.

Everything is all taken care of now, though, and my car is back in my possession looking great. If you ever need a body shop in the area, I have one to recommend.

Houston!
Yay! Houston!

Wednesday night Will had an unsuspecting Travis & Dave come over and I think everyone enjoyed hanging out the rest of the night.

And then on Thursday, poor Will got sick! Pretty sick, actually. :( Poor guy. (For those concerned, he seems to be doing fine now.) We did spend a lot of time catching up on various Nostalgic Critic episodes (who, by the way, is hysterical but very R-rated and language heavy, so be aware.) Also, I had the chance to see a taped rendition of his Pinocchio that I had been itching to watch and was glad to finally have the opportunity.

On Friday morning Kim graciously dropped Robbie & I off at the Zoo (where the OKC Zoo membership provides 1/2 off prices!) Although we did see lots of animals, I think if I totaled it up we spent about three of the five hours there in the children's zoo alone which was pretty funny. Robbie ran around in circles on the playground. Considering it was over 100, that's some pretty intense stamina! And he wasn't quite ready to go at the end either, but it was getting hot and late and he had to be getting tired, so we rode the carousel and headed home.

As for Issac, he is cuter than ever and has this grin that you can't help but return.

Travis and I actually got to catch up at Barry's Pizzeria which was nice and Kim & I were able to watch the latest Pride & Prejudice movie which I also enjoyed. Having never read or watched any of the movies, I went in without any idea of what it was really about and it was really funny.

Also, in the midst of all this, I did manage to finish reading Hunger Games, which I really enjoyed. For some reason, I kept fighting the first person point of view for the first part of the book, but was over it by the end and really enjoyed the bits that became more stream of conscious. And the story was great. Fast read, great story. Now I'm (probably) going to launch into Game of Thrones 2.

McKinney & Eight Hours, Going Twice
On the way back I arrived in McKinney at the perfect time for dinner with Philip & Kelly at Paoli's! Yum. World Market. Good time with more friends.

And then back on the road. A different route this time - up 1-77 to avoid the awful construction I ran into on 35 last time- buuut, 1-77 scared me a bit when I realized just how desolate it was. While I did like that it went straight into Shawnee, I didn't like that there were essentially no streetlights anywhere. And, although I knew it going in, no towns. So that meant no gas stations or ones in tiny towns that close way too early. That's potentially nervewracking.
So it's back to 35 for me.

And also bedtime for me.

But since I left Houston with this song stuck in my head, I now leave it with you:



It's a monkey!!

Only because its so true.

I am so sleepy. And going to bed. We had an awesome evening celebrating Holly's birthday at Red Robin. Several of us hadn't seen in each in a few weeks so it was HYSTERICAL.

I actually should post quotes from that. Sadly, I would probably get them wrong. Which would be a shame.

But that makes me think of this: tonight Eric pulled up a video clip that had me in hysterics with this line and I have to share it.

"I watched an anime once - dude pulled a gun at the start of the episode, fired it at the end and everything in between was angst! I wouldn't mind, but he MISSED."
- The Escapist

(Don't misinterpret- I love anime.)

Happy birthday to my beautiful friend, Holly! Thank you for always being the sweet sister that brightens my day and makes me smile. I love you dearly and hope you had a most wonderful day.

Victory.

I am typing. On the internet. From my home. On my own computer. And, wait for it, wait for it - wirelessly.

After the havoc its been since May trying to keep everything working together, this is a pretty sweet victory.

Victory dances at the ready, everyone! Take it away, Nyan Cat!

When one thing leads to another.

I was over at Brad's today when he learned I had never seen Patrick Stewart sing the alphabet. And he immediately found it for me, because it is indeed a must see.

I love this.



And then I said, have you see George Takei as Spiderman?



And then he said, wow, that's weird and what is this video about George Takei as Darth Vadar?

But that one ended up being lame.

But that reminded me and I said Have you seen the girl at the Disneyland Star Wars Show that Holly found?

And he said no, so we watched this one:


And it was pretty awesome.

Even my henchmen think I'm crazy.

Oh wow. I have discovered Jonathan Coulton. This is wonderful.

The ponies. Oh the ponies.

Watch.

Tis the Season...

I had (originally) planned on blogging for each day of Christmas Week. It's full of activity this year and I was hoping to respond to each night.
But since it is so full, I usually come home and crash afterward instead. With no days off this week at work, and with all the activity, I'm purposely trying to get extra rest (despite the fact that work has been, bizarrely, slow.) So. Recap.

Sunday: The Christmas Service
Sunday was nice. We've canceled drama rehearsals for the month (for which I'm grateful despite how much I enjoy them) and I spent the afternoon at home. Woot.
That evening was our Christmas service at church. All in all there were 22 of us - a small gathering, but there. When Gary asked for twelve volunteers we suddenly realized to our amusement we would have more onstage than in the audience. I love my little church.
The past few years we've always had a very serious candlelit service, which is beautiful and I always enjoy it, but this year was much more lighthearted and a nice change. There was one candle at the front, one that is there for every Christmas service and made me smile - one candle to remind us of Christ. We opened with requested favorites such as Jingle Bells, Have a Merry Little Christmas, Silver Bells, Rudolph... And then Pam spoke up that we had not sang Rudolph with the opening lines of the reindeer names, so we started the whole song over from the very beginning. :)
And Gary asked us for our favorite Christmas memories and after prayer he read the Christmas story, pulling from all the gospels to complete it. We sang a few more requested Christmas carols - this time ones from the hymnal - and Gary finished up by reading another story of the birth, this time by Max Lucado. The final piece of the evening was darkening the church and lighting our candles in the quiet. In the midst of the the flickering glow I marveled at the churches that met like this in the past and meet like this today - hidden away for their safety, with only candles. For a moment a palpable connection with believers already gone and others now tucked in pockets of the world. A reminder to remember my brothers and sisters in chains.

Monday: A Double Celebration with Friends
The annual Christmas party! Christmas Party Part 1 was held at the Nickersons house where feasting was commenced. Turkey, the garlic mashed potatoes, stuffing, cheddar biscuits...it was all deliiicious. Philip, Kelly, Eric, Cambria, Holly, Sam, Brad, Regina and myself all gathered around their table. And after cleaning up....
Christmas Party Part Deux! The Hinsons household. Old photos from college graced the television, we reminisced, unwrapped gifts and spent the rest of the evening relishing each others company. And there was an aaamazing double-layer dark chocolate cream-cheese icing cake with dark chocolate chips by Holly herself. Yum. Yum.

Tuesday: Bricktown Bonanaza
This evening after work I made a trip up to Bricktown - I had to leave a little late due to a very unexpected family piece right at ten till five. But Imy graciously finished it and I was able to leave and arrive just in time to see the kiddos getting their pics with Santa. Then it was off to Chelinos for the 12 of us to devour (in my case) delicious quesadillas.
During dinner a man making balloon art came up to the table and delighted all the girls with varying shapes. Anna & Amy received a ladybug and teddy bear respectively that could be worn on their wrist (this was very cool! I had never seen that before) while Ashia requested a motorcycle and a very eager Ashlyn loved her puppy dog. They were really well made and I thought it was wonderful how four balloons totally made their night. Balloon man was awesome.

Anna: Knock, knock!
Who's there?
Anna: Um...rock!
Rock who?
Anna: Rock-aren't-you-glad-I-didn't-say-banana!? Ahahahaa!Knock, knock!

Good times, good times. Finally soaking in the season, I'm ready for the rest of Christmas week.

Bonus feature! Christmas videos!
Every Christmas as a kid I watched the Sesame Street Christmas episode several times. And while I do remember them singing Feliz Navidad while ice skating, mostly I watched it for the Cookie Monster segment. That was my FAVORITE. And for a few years I could never find it on youtube, but you can noooow.... :)







Also awesome this week: the lunar eclipse happening on the winter solstice that hasn't happened in some odd 400 years. It was totally worth getting up for - but if you're like me and didn't - here's a time lapse video of it out of Florida. It's worth the watch clocking in at just over two minutes.

Sunny days, sweeping the clouds away....

In case you haven't seen this video, I must share. :) It's super cute and I love it. I've had it bouncing around in my head for days now (in a good what-a-very-happy-song way). It makes me smile! Sesame Street continues to prove it's awesomeness.



P.S. Listening to the Sesame Street opening song will cause a huge wave of nostalgia! Can you tell me how to get to Sesame Street?