If you've already been over to CC's page you already know about our Saturday night concert. It was a fantastic show.
Let me start out by saying that it wasn't at all what I expected. The ads in the paper, at least the ones I saw, made no mention of actual singing. I assumed, and I'm probably not the only one, that this would be a concert by the Memphis Symphony and their selections would all be Beatles songs. I'm thinking orchestral versions. But when we arrive and are flipping through the program, I see these guys listed as the singers. Wasn't quite sure how this was going to turn out. Keep in mind this is Memphis, the original home of the Elvis impersonator. You sort of get used to the idea of bad impersonations. It's just a part of Memphis life.
I must say, I was impressed. Yes, they sang the songs just like you remember hearing them (on the radio or your CD or tape player). But what was really cool was their attention to the little details. It was pretty obvious that they'd studied more than just the voice, hair and makeup. As they're playing, they're actually using the same mannerisms as well. Body language, head nods, dances, whatever, they were pretty damn spot on compared to the films and videos I've seen.
The audience liked the show so much we called them out for 3 encores. I was joking with CC at one point that they's pretty much played everything already. You could only call them back for so many songs before they just ran out of material :-)
Had a wonderful time. In fact, we had so much fun that I actually forgot about my sore shoulder for a while. Forgot about hurricanes and bad hearing and dog hair on the carpet and, well hell I even forgot about being in Memphis and that's a pretty damn big thing to forget :-)
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Been reading some more classical literature. Well no, that's not really accurate. I've been reading literature that's considered a classic. Not sure why though. Again, not accurate. I know why I was reading literature, I just don't quite understand why it's considered a "classic."
I've actually run into this problem more than once and all through college I only ever had one or two professors who, like me, wondered how on earth something got labled "classic." That's not very reassuring but on the other hand, at least I'm not alone.
The latest was The Catcher in the Rye. It was a pretty good book. I can see why you might have to read it in high school. Things are generally simple to figure out, the language is easy to understand. It's like Of Mice and Men in that your obvious lessons on foreshadowing and irony are built right in. But classic? I'd hardly call it a classic of modern fiction.
What I really get a kick out of are the overly snotty reviews it gets over on Amazon.com. You'd think this was the single greatest piece of work on the planet and its author a genius. Actually most of the reviewers DO call him a genius. They then turn to gushing about what a genius he really is and why.
Call me crazy but after reading it, my first reaction was that if I'd known Holden Caufield in school, I'd really be tempted to just smack him upside the head and tell him to suck it up and stop being such a whiny twit. Complain, complain, complain, that's all this kid does. I'm supposed to sympathize with some rich, white kid in prep school and how he keeps flunking out of schools? It's like this book is supposed to be a classic on the basis of how cynical this kid is.
I stand him up next to Hamlet and he's just a wuss. Stand him up next to Huck Finn and he's pretty much a simpering coward.
And so, how on earth am I supposed to actually care what happens to this twit? Everything that's happened to him has happened to someone else in a better written story only worse. After all the hype about how great a novel this is supposed to be I was disappointed.
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One last bit. If you run into my wife this week, give her a high five or an attaboy or something like that. She's really been working hard the past few weeks trying to get their new cleint up and running. As usual, she's doing an absolutely stellar job. Everything she produces is first rate and simply amazing. But that has a cost too. Drains the energy right out of her, poor thing, and it tends to frazzle her nerves a bit as well. So if you see her or if you're dropping her a line, tell her "nice job" or something like that. She does the kind of work that makes ya proud to know her. Hell I'm married to her so you can imagine how proud I am of what she does. Love that wife of mine :-)
PS: No smart ass remarks about being whipped either. I ain't saying this because I'm whipped (which I probably am, let's face it). I'm saying it because it's true. She's simply fabulous.
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