The Wolvog recently decided that he loves Joseph and his Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat. Frankly, it makes me happy too, especially the song "Go Go Go Joseph" when they're chanting "go go Joe, go go Joe" and then the song explodes into the chorus. You know what I'm talking about?
I now own the CD with Donny Osmond (pretty much everyone in their thirties and beyond is probably considering their favourite Osmond right now. Seeing their last name does that to you. And there were so many to choose from. My favourite was Jimmy, especially on that Fame episode), but my camp did a production of the show back in the 80s and until the late 90s, that was the only copy of the music I owned.
And I subjected my father to it on a road trip.
I remember popping in the cassette, promising him that he was going to "love it" because why wouldn't he love it as much as I did, remembering our female Joseph whirling around the stage (there were no boys in camp who could hit the notes). My memories of singing the songs during a shaving cream fight with the other girls cabin were so strong that they must spill out of me and enter everyone in the car through osmosis.
Just to repeat, it was a tape of Joseph and his Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat.
And if that wasn't enough, it was being sung by thirteen-year-olds.
And if that wasn't enough, it was recorded on an old tape recorder that I had placed on my lap during the performance so you could hear me laughing and talking with people over the music.
And if that wasn't enough, it was the entire score. A 90 minute tape.
I'm sorry, dad.
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The Weekly What If: What if you could rewind time for one of your teen celebrity crushes and return them to how they looked back during your crush stage? Which celebrity would you bestow this gift on (they'd return to how they looked during their Tiger Beat days. In other words, they'd lose the bloat and receding hairline). Which celebrity do you think would want this gift the most? Which one would you like to gaze at in magazines again? Who just didn't age well and was cuter in youth? And...just for kicks...who aged the best and doesn't need your tremendous powers to restore their youthful looks?
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You've probably already seen this because it has been out for four days, but more power to Sons of Maxwell for holding companies accountable.
Dave Carroll writes: "In the spring of 2008, Sons of Maxwell were traveling to Nebraska for a one-week tour and my Taylor guitar was witnessed being thrown by United Airlines baggage handlers in Chicago. I discovered later that the $3500 guitar was severely damaged. They didn’t deny the experience occurred but for nine months the various people I communicated with put the responsibility for dealing with the damage on everyone other than themselves and finally said they would do nothing to compensate me for my loss. So I promised the last person to finally say “no” to compensation (Ms. Irlweg) that I would write and produce three songs about my experience with United Airlines and make videos for each to be viewed online by anyone in the world."
Dave Carroll writes: "In the spring of 2008, Sons of Maxwell were traveling to Nebraska for a one-week tour and my Taylor guitar was witnessed being thrown by United Airlines baggage handlers in Chicago. I discovered later that the $3500 guitar was severely damaged. They didn’t deny the experience occurred but for nine months the various people I communicated with put the responsibility for dealing with the damage on everyone other than themselves and finally said they would do nothing to compensate me for my loss. So I promised the last person to finally say “no” to compensation (Ms. Irlweg) that I would write and produce three songs about my experience with United Airlines and make videos for each to be viewed online by anyone in the world."
The Chicago Sun Times has the end (for now) of the story which is that they suddenly saw the error of their ways on the 8th after it received almost a half million views and finally apologized to Dave Carroll. It's a great song. I hope he makes the next two in the three-part series.
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And now, the blogs...
As I've said before, I just keep a running list each week of things I read that moved me. Some end up Kirtsy'd, some end up here, some end up being emailed to various people with a "read this!" exclamation included. Sometimes, as I'm writing the Roundup, I look to see if there was a theme. And the ones that came onto the list this week are all wistful, all touching, all about the reminders we receive either when we're looking or where we least expect it.
Hold My Hope has a post about her brother. She writes of various online programs: "They all contain something I can’t delete: my brother’s contact information. And they like to post reminders of his upcoming birthday. It’s weird. I remember; I don’t need the reminders. He would be turning 30 in a couple of weeks. But I can’t delete the records." Even though I obviously never knew her brother, I found the post incredibly moving. I don't think I could ever delete a reminder either.
Our Own Creation has a post that illustrates how interconnected we are as the blogosphere crosses into the face-to-face world and back. Preparing for her D&C, sitting in a curtained waiting area, she heard a couple who was having trouble getting an IV started murmuring about this blog. Personally, I like to think that it was fate reaching out its hand, connecting two people through this third. On the same day that Allison was in the office, I was cleaning the rocks I collected for Allison on the beach. Isn't that a strange twist of fate? That we see these reminders of the other person, sometimes right when we need them. And I would like to thank this woman for being the bridge between Allison and I at that moment by quoting some of Allison's words. If you recognize them, the moment comes full circle: "So, to the woman who was sitting next to me on the other side of that curtain Thursday morning, I hope all of your failed IV bruises are healing. My wrist is one big green bruise with a set of two purple fang marks in the middle. At least you can tell the story of the brick! And I hope your fertilization report was a good one. Good luck to you."
Edenland has a post called "Retrospection is for Pussies." It is a post about her war wounds--the days after her son was born, when her husband was in the hospital. One of the greatest exchanges of all time appears in the post:
Lastly, To Baby and Beyond has a post about how she thought life would turn out. She was watching a reality show that was forecasting how the marriages would unfold and it made her consider her own, where she thought she would be with family building ten years into marriage. She writes, "My dreams, year by year, get less and less. At this point I would be ecstatic with 1! What is it you were always told as a kid? Never give up on your dream...never settle for less...if you try hard enough you can have anything you want. HAH I laugh [read cry] at that." The whole post is amazing and moving and contains one of the most profound thoughts I read this week. But you'll need to click over to read the post in full.
The roundup to the Roundup: Sorry, dad, about the show tunes. Answer the Weekly What If in all of its many parts this week. Watch a video for a really catch-y song. And lots of great posts to read.
As I've said before, I just keep a running list each week of things I read that moved me. Some end up Kirtsy'd, some end up here, some end up being emailed to various people with a "read this!" exclamation included. Sometimes, as I'm writing the Roundup, I look to see if there was a theme. And the ones that came onto the list this week are all wistful, all touching, all about the reminders we receive either when we're looking or where we least expect it.
Hold My Hope has a post about her brother. She writes of various online programs: "They all contain something I can’t delete: my brother’s contact information. And they like to post reminders of his upcoming birthday. It’s weird. I remember; I don’t need the reminders. He would be turning 30 in a couple of weeks. But I can’t delete the records." Even though I obviously never knew her brother, I found the post incredibly moving. I don't think I could ever delete a reminder either.
Our Own Creation has a post that illustrates how interconnected we are as the blogosphere crosses into the face-to-face world and back. Preparing for her D&C, sitting in a curtained waiting area, she heard a couple who was having trouble getting an IV started murmuring about this blog. Personally, I like to think that it was fate reaching out its hand, connecting two people through this third. On the same day that Allison was in the office, I was cleaning the rocks I collected for Allison on the beach. Isn't that a strange twist of fate? That we see these reminders of the other person, sometimes right when we need them. And I would like to thank this woman for being the bridge between Allison and I at that moment by quoting some of Allison's words. If you recognize them, the moment comes full circle: "So, to the woman who was sitting next to me on the other side of that curtain Thursday morning, I hope all of your failed IV bruises are healing. My wrist is one big green bruise with a set of two purple fang marks in the middle. At least you can tell the story of the brick! And I hope your fertilization report was a good one. Good luck to you."
Edenland has a post called "Retrospection is for Pussies." It is a post about her war wounds--the days after her son was born, when her husband was in the hospital. One of the greatest exchanges of all time appears in the post:
Finally I cracked the shits. "Look, you know what? No, I'm not bringing him in for a test. He's not deaf."There were actually too many moments that I loved in this post to note here, but the ending is just about perfect. I think this post sums up why Eden needs to produce a memoir.
She couldn't believe it. "But how do you KNOW he's not deaf?"
"Because his dad is in hospital with cancer. He can't have a sick dad AND be deaf."
Lastly, To Baby and Beyond has a post about how she thought life would turn out. She was watching a reality show that was forecasting how the marriages would unfold and it made her consider her own, where she thought she would be with family building ten years into marriage. She writes, "My dreams, year by year, get less and less. At this point I would be ecstatic with 1! What is it you were always told as a kid? Never give up on your dream...never settle for less...if you try hard enough you can have anything you want. HAH I laugh [read cry] at that." The whole post is amazing and moving and contains one of the most profound thoughts I read this week. But you'll need to click over to read the post in full.
The roundup to the Roundup: Sorry, dad, about the show tunes. Answer the Weekly What If in all of its many parts this week. Watch a video for a really catch-y song. And lots of great posts to read.
