You Can Fly! You Can Fly! You Can Fly!

Post by Chip and Co.

Video: The Origin of Love

My friend Dennis created this video. He invited a bunch of his friends, including me, to submit photos of ourselves*, and asked that we hold up an 8x12 inch piece of paper so he could add words to it.

I admit, I had no idea what the finished product would be.

This is so beautiful. I hope that you watch, and I hope that you tell someone today that you love them.


I love YOU! Happy November!

*True to form, I sent in my photo on the very last day of the deadline, because I could never remember to get a photo when I was around anyone. I meant to while I was in Disneyland... whoops! Thanks, Larissa, for coming over especially to snap my photo for me!

Just a man and his will to survive

I know I'm not the only one in a winter-time funk. Every day the last couple of weeks I've had to do something like this every morning, just to get out of bed:

Risin' up, back on the street
Did my time, took my chances
Went the distance
Now I'm back on my feet
Just a man and his will to survive
So many times, it happens too fast
You trade your passion for glory
Don't lose your grip on the dreams of the past
You must fight just to keep them alive
[Chorus]
It's the eye of the tiger
It's the thrill of the fight
Risin' up to the challenge
Of our rival
And the last known survivor
Stalks his prey in the night
And he's watching us all with the
Eye of the tiger 

Writers: Peterik/Sullivan

(Have you seen Persepolis, the movie this clip is from? You should. It's not for kids and tough to watch, but so beautiful and ultimately uplifting. I highly recommend it.)

Happy Friday, my friends! We can and will survive the winter doldrums. We'll be complaining about summer heat soon enough!

Sing it loud for all to hear!

As Buddy the elf says,

The best way to spread Christmas Cheer is singing loud for all to hear!

Well, since I'm not doing a Christmas show this season, I'm simply enjoying the carols cycling through the radio stations, and blaring at every store I step into! Sure, the very first Christmas-themed song I heard was the obnoxiously-manipulative "The Christmas Shoes" (listen at your own risk), but on the positive side, it was nice to get it over with, and so many of the other songs are so wonderful! I love the hope and joy and excitement in the music set aside for this time of year, whether playful or inspirational.

One of my favorite things about Christmas carols, though, is how casually and naturally the spiritual and fun songs are played together. Maybe the season has become increasingly commercial, but how can anyone misunderstand the true reason of the season when so many artists have their own version of "O Holy Night?" I heard two different versions back-to-back on the radio this morning!

This video of The Piano Guys' "Carol of the Bells" has become a new favorite -- how wonderful all-instrumental music can be, and I appreciate their using a melancholy-sounding instrument for such an exciting song. It works!

This performance of "Ding-dong Merrily on High" made me cry the first time I saw 5 Carols/Jingle Jacks at CenterPoint Legacy Theater earlier this month. So darn cool! I had to go back and see the show again... especially because the reprise is seriously, insanely funny (everything goes wrong -- I can't even describe it!) The first time, I laughed so hard I cried, and the second time, I laughed so hard my face went numb. Oh, man. I wish I had a free night to go again. If you have a chance to see it, DO! It's terrific! (We all know I don't often plug shows that I'm not in, so please take my word for it!):
(The song starts at 5:20)

Love! Love! Love!!

And then there are horrible versions, like a calypso version of "Feliz Navidad" I heard once... possibly the second-worst track ever recorded, next to "The Christmas Shoes" (I really do hate that song), and just so darn fascinating.

Oh, and it's fun to find variations of "Rudolph", like "Randolph the Bowl-Legged Cowboy", which I can't find on YouTube... maybe I'll create my own video ;)

Meanwhile, I definitely have my favorites, and it's fun to hear new renditions that pop up each year. Jimmy Fallon and The Roots' cover of "All I Want for Christmas is You" has become my go-to video whenever I need an infusion of Christmas spirit:


Happy Christmastime, everyone! What are your favorite versions of your favorite carols?

The Cave Troll's birthday

Thought I'd post a funny video today, since I know a bunch of my friends are having a tough week. I spotted this one and appreciated the giggle (and then I watched a bunch of related videos -- they're silly!)


(Is anyone else as excited about the first Hobbit movie as I am? I finished the book and can't wait to see it on the big screen!)

Now, run to Smith's and buy a slice of cake (if you don't like cake, go to McDonald's and get an ice cream cone. Oooh! Or a corn dog from Dairy Queen! Or find a terrific, healthy peach ... I'm digressing). Tonight, I'm going to relax by watching Snow White and the Huntsman (didn't see it in theaters and it's finally available on Netflix) and possibly also a few episodes of Gilmore Girls. Hope you have something lovely planned, too.

The Addams Family touring cast performs... Newsies?

I am a fan of clever things, and I wanted to see Newsies and The Addams Family musicals before... I want to see them even MORE now!!

Happy Thursday. The long weekend is just around the corner! Do you have any fun plans?

Enterprise crew watches Star Wars

Set phasers to LOL strikes again!


Should I be embarrassed that I can tell from the uniforms, Riker's beard, and Pulaski's presence that most of the clips are from season two? I can also name several of the episodes these clips are from...

Happy Friday!

Make a Joyful Noise!

 Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all the earth: make a loud noise, and rejoice, and sing praise.

- Psalms 98:4, King James Bible

While I was sick, and then when my throat was healing from the horrible cough damage, I didn't sing. I think I've mentioned before that I love to sing more than doing anything else in the world, so this was difficult for me. Sometimes just mouthing the words and dancing was enough to abate the need to actually make musical noise with my voice, but sometimes it wasn't.

But because I didn't want to damage my vocal chords any more than the illness already had, not using my voice was a necessary sacrifice. I hoped that it would only be short-term. My fear was that I'd never get my range or breath control back to what it was (I'm still pretty short of breath) and I still have coughing spells once in awhile. I could hear how scratchy and pathetic my voice was. I stubbornly tried to audition for a musical, and I was disappointed in my performance -- I could normally perform so much better than that! It's probably better that I wasn't cast in that show. But the first couple of weeks of Beauty rehearsals were endlessly frustrating, because I couldn't use my voice the way I am used to, and, again, I was afraid I'd lose it altogether at just the wrong moment.

It wasn't until the follow-up doctor's appointment this month that I realized how much NOT singing had affected my morale. It was bad enough that I felt crummy and didn't get to hang out with my friends, I couldn't sing, either? Talk about kicking a girl when she's down!

When I suddenly had permission to sing again it felt AMAZING!! Even though it was a Tuesday, I found the Friday song on my iPod and sang it about six times -- I figured it was an okay choice since the vocal range is limited (please don't judge me too harshly), plus the Glee cover is so wonderfully peppy. Then I put on a musical and continued to sing. I was so happy!

A dear friend asked me to sing last Sunday at a retirement home where she plays the piano. It was the first time since September that I'd sung in front of anyone. I sang "For the Beauty of the Earth" and I was nervous and shaky, but I did it! Ginny said I sounded beautiful and that everyone was grateful that I shared (I had to leave right after). I'm glad that she asked me to do it; I put my fears aside and shared my talent. Though weak, it's still there, thank goodness.

Here's a video of Andrea (Little Red), Greg (Baker), and Jonathon (Jack), and me singing my favorite song from Into the Woods. Hopefully I'll be back to audition/performance form and get to sing something like this again soon! I've seen several musicals lately and I sure do miss it!

Inspirational speech... by pretty much everyone

On this fine Monday morning, I'm looking at a long, long, week that will likely go by too fast for all that I need to accomplish at work. Luckily, I'm in a far better position to get things done by my deadline then I expected last week I would be! And, the good I have planned for my limited free time should balance -- if not outweigh -- the bad. I can do it! And the Thanksgiving 4-day holiday is just around the corner!

Even so, with Mondays being what they so often are, I figure we could all use a little inspiration:



Thank you, Hollywood!

Happy Monday!

Don't think about zebras

The first time I learned of a certain "swear" word, I was probably about ten, and one of my little brothers said, "Hey, did you know [he spelled the word out] is a swear word?" Embarrassed that a younger brother knew something I did not, I immediately countered with "No, it isn't!" Turns out I was wrong, although I couldn't tell you when the "badness" was confirmed to me. To this day I have never used it and never will. But sometimes I wish I was still innocent enough that I'd never heard it in the first place.

Well, in the interim time I've discovered more bad words. Words used in movies that bother me each time I hear them. Words I wish people in polite society wouldn't use, especially when yelling at me.

Even now, I'm encountering new words not to say. The latest was from the movie Easy A, a movie I quite liked and wouldn't mind owning. Now that I think of it, I've heard the word before but never knew it was a bad one. I've probably sung it, snuck into musicals the way it sometimes is. It was the only bad word I noticed in the movie, and I only noticed it because she was sent to the principle's office because of it. Otherwise, I would have had no idea and wouldn't have given it a second thought.

It's probably better they did make such a big deal, because I might have ignorantly used it myself :P I love playing with words! It's so hard to leave one unsaid, especially when it was locked into the forefront of my brain!

A part of me immediately wanted to look it up to find out what it meant. But I didn't really want to type the word into a search engine because 1) I was a little afraid to find out the meaning, and 2) I didn't want it showing up in my history (I know I could wipe the history, but it still feels wrong).

The other part of me -- the part that didn't know yet what it meant -- wanted to use it.

I know what the new word means now -- a friend enlightened me and I'm glad she did -- so I'm less tempted, but it's still on my mind, as illustrated by Ray Romano in the last two minutes of this clip:


In an attempt to distract my mind and focus on stuff I would NOT be embarrassed to say, I've been watching classic movies and reading young adult fiction. I think about it the forbidden words less often now, but now that I've learned it, it'll probably pop up in my brain every once in awhile.

I apologize if through this post I might have inspired you to think of "ugly" words. What do you do to get those kind of things out of your head?

Running "amuck"

Sharing this clip of Hocus Pocus for three reasons:

1. This movie cracks me up every single time I watch it.
2. I want to find two friends and dress up as the Sanderson sisters one Halloween (not an original idea, but still an awesome one). I'd prefer to be Sarah, but I'd dress up as any one of them!
3. Sarah Jessica Parker's performance as Sarah Sanderson is one of my inspirations for my character in Beauty and the Beast. I'm not acting exactly like Sarah (the actress or the witch), but there are a few references here and there :-D Love!!

*Did you know that Leonardo Di Caprio was originally offered the role of Max, and turned it down for What's Eating Gilbert Grape? He would have had a whole different career if he had chosen differently. Crazy, eh? I love imdb.com!

Happy Muppet -- I, mean, Happy Friday!

Animal singing "Mama" really makes this video for me.

And, you're welcome!


Happy Friday!!

Please don't propose to me at a sporting event

I really, really super hope that my future boyfriend/fiance/husband knows better than to propose to me in this way*:



I always felt like getting engaged in a public place like this feels like it's more about the crowd than about the two people pledging to share their lives together. I don't want to feel like I HAVE to say yes to save his dignity. I want to say yes because I love him and want to share my life with him. It seems too personal a thing to have so many people watching.

Does this surprise you about me? It's true that I spend a lot of time onstage, but that's me acting, not me being me. I don't otherwise like being the center of attention. I especially don't like being "shown off" by my dates, because it invariably involves the guy acting in a way that he knows makes me feel uncomfortable but he thinks is funny and makes him feel all manly and important. I don't want to get engaged while a bunch of strangers who don't care about us galk at us (this includes the current Flashmob proposal trend). Plus, I expect there will be a lot of making out involved when I get engaged, and I HATE PDAs**!

When it happens, I hope he proposes in a way that is meaningful to us both. I'm a pretty simple girl. (I will admit to being afraid of unexpected rings in my food -- a girl could break her teeth!!)

Tell me, how did your significant other propose to you? Did he propose in a public place, and if so did you like it? For those still waiting, do you have any preferences?


*I will not mind if my future husband is a sports fan.
**Public Displays of Affection

Intermission pep talk

Sadly, the embedding option for my Friday video of choice has been disabled. Please jibbity, jibbity over to this link, and give it 164% of your focus, because it's awesome. I always have to watch at least twice in a row.

Jibbity, jibbity!

"Ya gotta BLITZ 'em! You blitz 'em!"

Monday morning

I submit that there are few better ways to start a long week than by getting up early to visit your dad at the dentist, and watching the first twenty minutes of Disney's Robin Hood.


Oh, and no cavities. Not too shabby!

Happy Independence Day, Muppets style

Because I can't help myself:

We No Speak Americano

This blows my mind every time I watch it. It's like tap-dancing, but with their hands!

Speaking of which, tap-dancing and I have a date in the near future.

JT as Mozart

This video is from Saturday Night Live's Justin Timberlake episode dress rehearsal. The skit was cut from the final show, and I can't imagine why! It was funnier than several other skits they actually used. Except maybe this one -- it slays me!


Happy Friday!

It's raining men in Austenland

This just makes me laugh... and then swoon... and laugh again.

And now I need to watch Pride and Prejudice or Sense and Sensibility or Persuasion again...



Happy Friday!

The Friday song

**Warning: The song I'm talking about in this post really does get stuck in your head. Listen at your own risk! If you do, I hope you love it!**

So, a couple of months ago, my friends on Facebook started ranting about Rebecca Black's "Friday" song. Since it was apparently really awful and super-annoying, I avoided it like the plague. I kind of liked being able to say I'd never heard it, and not having it run through my head every Friday...

...Until I saw that Chelsey Kane and Romeo had riffed their own version during a Dancing With the Stars rehearsal. So, I watched a clip of their riff.

After that it was only sort of stuck in my head, because I hadn't heard the real version and I still didn't know any of the words.

Then someone else pointed me to a spoof that inserted Star Wars characters, so I watched it. What was the harm, right? I watched the spoof and for the first time went, "Wait, what the heck is this song about?" Still, since the original was apparently so bad, I didn't look it up to find out.

During the prom episode of Glee, it took me a few minutes to recognize the very first song they sang at the prom. It was the Friday song. And I LOVED it! Perhaps I loved it because it seemed like such a great party song ("Yeah!"), or because Puck and Sam were singing and I always wish they had more opportunities to sing (I am SO OVER Rachel and Finn). But after that, I was hooked. I bought the Glee cover on iTunes and listened to it over and over again. Last Thursday you might have been able to spot me rocking out to it at the grocery store... then again, I probably wasn't really crazy enough to end up on youtube. I felt crazy though. It's a fun song! It may even be my favorite song.

Or at least it was until this week when I finally saw Rebecca Black's original version. That has to be the worst music video I've seen in a long time. It somehow managed to make the words of the song sound even more inane than they really are. Rebecca's voice is NOT as enjoyable as the guys' voices on Glee. Nobody in the music video seemed to be having a good time, in spite of the fact that half the chorus is "Partying, partying --yeah! Fun, fun, fun, fun!" Nope. Everyone looks bored. They look like the rest of the week wore them out and they have no energy left to think about anything more important than which seat they'll choose to sit in when they get in the car. I'd never realized just how stupid the words are. The music video kind of just made me sad, probably the opposite of what they had hoped.

So, I choose to reject Rebecca's version (sorry, babe!) and stick to the Glee guys. I'm still a fan of the song, even if the words are pretty lame. Here it is for your enjoyment:





Happy Friday, folks! And happy third blogging anniversary to me! Thanks for reading :-D