Tuesday Tunes: Woodstock and Twisted

Enjoy two tunes today by the fabulous Joni Mitchell, one of my favorite singer/songwriters. When I got my first guitar in high school, I tried to play her songs, but she had a very unique way of tuning her guitar...it was impossible to figure out. She started out as a folk singer but she's not a one-trick pony. She later incorporated jazz stylings to her music. 


She wrote the song Woodstock from what she had heard from her boyfriend about the festival because she had not been there herself due to scheduling conflicts. She wrote the song in a hotel room in New York City, watching the reports of the festival on television.


Here she is singing her song Woodstock and an audio clip of Twisted that shows her jazz influence from her 1974 album Court and Spark.

Friday Flicks: Cat's Eye

I'm a huge Stephen King fan. His novels and short stories are wonderful but the movies made from those stories are usually pretty bad. The few exceptions include Cujo, Firestarter, The Dead Zone, The Shining, Stand By Me, The Green Mile and The Shawshank Redemption.

Another King fave is Cat's Eye (1985).

Three different stories all linked by a cat whose mission is to save a little girl. Great performances by James Woods, Alan King and Drew Barrymore. A perfect blend of horror and humor.

Tuesday Tunes: Foggy Mountain Breakdown

First of all, I love Bluegrass music. Second of all I love Steve Martin. I follow him on Twitter and keep tabs on his website stevemartin.com

Sunday Sermon: God's Gifts

Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God's grace in its various forms. If anyone speaks he should do it as one speaking the very words of God. If anyone serves, he should do it with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be glory and power for ever and ever.

I Peter 4:10-11

My Heart Belongs to an Alien

I've just finished my first feature movie! It's a sci-fi flick about an alien invasion. Special thanks to my good friend and actor Christi Mitchell who shared her amazing talent as Beatrice Bailey, the sci-fi author who takes an alien encounter to the next level.

Do you think I'm ready for Sundance?

Tuesday Tunes: Gilligan's Island

I was in grade school when Gilligan's Island was in its prime and I loved it. Just goes to show the maturity level of the target audience. Was it grade school kids? I don't know. My parents watched it, too, but I could tell they weren't that impressed. Just going along for the ride.

Anyway, here's the theme song if you haven't heard it for a while. But to be honest, you must live on another planet if you haven't seen the show and the G.I. marathon reruns on TV.

I couldn't embed the video, but you can check it out YouTube. Click here.

Who's your favorite character?
I like Mary Ann. She was so cute in her shorts and midriff tops and she looked like me. I always thought she and the professor should be a couple, but upon reflection, I think he was too old for her. They had nothing in common except for their special interests in coconuts...she could make a cream pie and he could build a radio.

Pictures from the Lake

We went camping at Lake Owen this weekend and I got some great shots at sunrise.

Friday Flicks: Pillow Talk

I love the Doris Day/Rock Hudson rom coms. Their chemistry on screen was magical. I've seen all their movies and Pillow Talk (1959) is my favorite. I want to strangle Rock for deceiving Doris, but she gets him back big time. And of course in the end we see that they were made for each other. Tony Randall is brilliant in all the Doris/Rock movies and even though his character is virtually the same in each one (best friend of Rock with a "thing" for Doris), he is hilarious. Story in a nutshell: Doris is an interior decorator and shares a party line with Rock, a womanizing songwriter. When Rock finds out she's a beautiful woman, he want to put the moves on her so he pretends he's a wealthy rancher from Texas just visiting New York. She falls for the ruse, mistakenly thinking he's a sweet, unassuming gentleman. Here is the "pot-bellied stove" scene:

Tuesday Tunes: Italian Concerto

Johann Sebastian Bach is my absolute favorite composer of all time. His music is so inspiring. As a pianist, I studied classical music for many years but never came close to my dream of playing Bach as it's meant to be played.

The Italian Concerto is one of my favorite pieces. Here is a lovely video that shows beautiful scenic landscapes set to Glenn Gould's magical performance.

Friday Flicks: The Terminator

Best of the Terminator movies. In my opinion, they should have stopped right here and not bothered with the sequels. Arnold at his best....minimal dialog and lots of action. "I'll be back."

What I like about this movie:

Sarah Connor changes from a wimpy, insecure girl to a powerful, determined woman.

The concept of time travel and the weird logic of Sarah and Reese's relationship.

The scene where the cops think Reese is a paranoid schizophrenic as he tells them his story. Yeah, it does sound crazy.

Great chase scenes...just when you start to take a breath, the action picks back up. Edge of your seat the whole time.

The burning truck scene where the Terminator rises from the flames as a metalic skeleton and keeps on coming after her.

The scene where Sarah terminates the Terminator. The red eye powers down. Finally!

The photograph scene with the Mexican boy at the end of the movie...perfect full-circle twist.

Weird Breakfast

Today I had a weird breakfast:

Coffee
Cereal (Great Grains w/Pecans and Dates)
Cheddar cheese cubes w/saltine crackers
2 Klondike ice cream sandwiches.

OY VEY!

NOTE: This is not my usual breakfast which typically includes only the first two items. Not sure why I ate the cheese and ice cream -- maybe because I had just gone for a run and was STARVING!

What's your weirdest breakfast?

Tuesday Tunes: Leaving on a Jet Plane

I'm a huge John Denver fan. There was no one else like him with such a unique voice and style. This song is one of my favorites.

Sunday Sermon: Proverbs

The wicked man flees though no one pursues, but the righteous are as bold as a lion.

When a country is rebellious, it has many rulers, but a man of understanding and knowledge maintains order.

A ruler who oppresses the poor is like a driving rain that leaves no crops.

Those who forsake the law praise the wicked, but those who keep the law resist them.

Evil men do not understand justice, but those who seek the Lord understand it fully.

Better a poor man whose walk is blameless than a rich man whose ways are perverse.

Proverbs 28: 1-6