Dora's Blog

It is with great sadness that I share the news that my folks had to put down the last of their cats yesterday.  Mary Beth Lacey will be greatly missed as she joins her twin litter mate Christine Cagney and my other childhood cat, Ziggy, in the Heavyside Layer.  It's been a ROUGH few years for my parents.  We've lost a beloved dog and now three cats.  ED - not to mention Danny, my aunt's Persian that my parents took care of for a few years.  So make that FOUR cats.  *sigh*  I'm glad they have Lady Day and Walker...but it has been a long time....actually....forever since my parents have not had a cat in the house.  This will be the first time in my life.  It's never been fewer than one cat. 

Big ((((HUGS)))) to Mom and Dad today.   

I'm glad I got to see her one last time in back in April.

The Mexican earth....it knows I am arriving!

*evil laugh*  Bwahahahahaha!!!!!!!!

Behold:  The cutest gift bag EVAR!!!!!

(Note:  the nanimals are made from felt pieces!!)  *passes out cold*

Hey guys,

Please read the email below and follow the steps to help him get one step closer to winning the big prize!  I love this guy so much, y'all.  He's very talented.  So if you could help him out that'd be greeeeeaaaaaat!!!!!!  Also, the voting closes tomorrow (friday) so quick like bunnies!

From Scott:

Ok, so you know how way down deep inside I really annoy you and you've always secretly harbored a desire to see something really bad happen to me...? 
Well, now you've got your chance.
I entered a competition to get a part in a horror movie...screen tests in LA and shoots in Europe.  I have to be one of the top 10 guy vote getters to get to LA for the screen test.
Here's how it works...
1.  go to massify.com
2.  click on auditions
3.  search for scottthinso
My audition should come up and then you can vote for it.
(It's gonna ask you to register with the website before you can vote...I'd use a junk email account because it'll send you crap once you register...).
I know it's sort of a pain in the a*s, but I'd appreciate the support.
Thanks for your help and maybe you'll see something brutal happening to me in the theaters before long...
Your scream queen,
Scott

here's a preview of the audition:

I stumbled upon this random site with a bunch of funny photos on it and saw this one below and OMG!  I totally walked by this guy a few weeks ago, it was two blocks from my office.  I gave his ass a dollar. 

Hey y'all.  It's time for an run down of last night's American Idol episode.

The theme of the evening was the songbook of the great Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber.  Even though many a theater snob see ALW's compositions as overrated and trite, and I know what they mean, I will always always always be grateful for the magic he has given to the Theater over the years.  When I was falling in love with Musical Theater early on in my singing days, his music provided hours of listening pleasure AND rehearsal for me.  His songs took up a great portion of my training.  So I will always love his work.  I'm admitting a bias towards the music here.  ;-)

There was a fair representation of of his shows - Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Evita, Jesus Christ Superstar, Cats and Phantom.  The basics. 

First up was Syesha.  She sang "One Rock 'n Roll Too Many" from Joseph and stirred up the crowd with a sexy start, poised and lounging on the piano.  She then picked up the pace and poured a ton of pep and personality into the performance, giving it life.  The tricky thing about picking a song like this is that the song isn't really about anything...kind of.   It's fluffy as heck so your personality must make up for that and she did not disappoint.  She still may land in the bottom two or three because of the popularity factor but who knows....?

Jason sang "Memory" from Cats.  This song is probably the most recognizable and memorable (haha) of all the songs of ALW.   It's a powerful yet delicate ballad full of sorrow and whimsy.  Treated badly, this song could easily be a cheesefest for just about anyone.  Treated with respect, this song is heartbreaking and sweet.  Jason totally did it justice.  The judges hated it, for the most part, and I think they are full of shit.  They wanted "power ballad" and nothing more for this song and they seemed to think Jason shouldn't have picked it at all.  But he made it his own, simple and soulful and I bought it hook, line and sinker.  He took a big risk.

Brooke.  Brooke Brooke Brooke.  *sigh*  For the second time this season she started a song and then stopped and started over.  Bad BAD BAD.  Paula was hard on her about it and rightfully so and then Randy and Simon tried to make Paula look like a know-nothing by saying that THEY would've done the same thing if they had lost the lyric.  Um, excuse me, but leave it to the actual pop star of the three of you to determine the level of professionalism here, thank you very much.  Pop STARS don't stop and start unless there are technical difficulties.  Period.  Brooke showed her amateur side and I'm inclined to agree with Paula that at this stage in the competition, this sort of behavior cannot be displayed and then still expect the audience to believe that you have what it takes to "make it".  But anyway, the song itself was nice.  She sang "You Must Love Me" from Evita, one the best musicals of all time, imo.  ALW actually wrote this song for the movie, not the original, because they needed something to play on the radio.  But it's still very beautiful.  Full of emotion, she showed an excellent range in her acting ability and camera work.  She did strain her voice a little, but I dismissed it as being part of the high stakes within the song itself.  Evita is on her death bed, pleading, after all.  I liked how ALW gave her that clue and she ran with it without being overly dramatic.  Very nice.  But it still may do her in.

David "Cheeseball" Archuleta sang "Think of Me" from Phantom of the Opera which is a lilting tune that passes as an "Aria" performed by the lead soprano, Christine.  This is one of my favorite songs of all time and I used to love singing it.  So enter David, very young, shy and a tad awkward, taking this puppy on.  Well.  He did the smart thing and performed what was essentially an easy listening "cover" of the song with a different arrangement.  If anything, turning an Aria into a coffee house rock song shows how versatile ALW's songwriting is to begin with (or non-challenging as some I know might argue).  But I digress.  I actually really liked it.  It was weird, for sure, but it worked.  He did the whole "make it your own" thing and it passed.

Carly then sang the title song from Jesus Christ Superstar.  It was perfect.  There's really not much more to say.  It was perfect for her voice and she nailed it.  

David Cook wrapped up the night with a stunning vocal performance of "Music of the Night" from Phantom, which is arguably the second most recognizable and memorable of ALW's work.  I LOVED IT.  And this critique is not coming from below the belt...I swear!  *shifty eyes*  Yeah, I have a little crush on my fellow Missourian but for reals - what he pulled off last night - man, I didn't know he had it in him.  He revealed that he has a background in musical theater during the clip they showed of him working with ALW.  So he completely (except for the last note) abandoned all "rocker" chicness and simply sang the damn song!  He went against the whole "making it your own" thing and became the Phantom for a bit.  It was subtle and undramatic yet full of life and not one flat note was uttered (then again, DC tends to be pitch perfect).  He could've hammed it up some more...but instead he simply peered into the camera and told us about the music and asked sweet Christine, the angel of music, to let the music set her free and belong to him.  Brilliant.  I want him to win. 

Predictions - barring any upsets - the bottom three will be Brooke, Syesha and Jason.  The big upset would be David Cheeseball Archuleta, even though I personally believe that he belongs there.  But realistically speaking, there are way too many screeching horny teenage girls and little old ladies out there to keep this sweetie out for awhile.  In fact, I'm still fairly certain that in the end it will come down to him and someone else, likely David Cook or Carly.     

From the NY Daily News:

Monday, April 21st 2008, 4:00 AM

If it's your birthday

Happy birthday, Taurus! Known for your reliability and stamina, you are outgoing, which makes it easy for those in affluent circles to have confidence in your abilities. This year, life will dramatically improve in the professional arena; it is a time to build or rebuild your fortune. Financial prosperity is highlighted - go after an inner dream, no matter how big. Magic moments are in store.

SWEET!!!!!!

Yay!  It's April 15th!!!!!!!  YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!

This means that after tomorrow, I won't be so much of a crazy person!  Yay!!!!

In other news, sadly, Hello Kitty has taken a turn to the dark side.  Following in the footsteps of Smurfette, Jessica Rabbit and Daisy Duck, HK has nothing but rehab and (possibly) prison in her future.  What a shame...

The lolcuteness is officially out. Of. CONTROL! 

And I LOVE it.

*urp*

OK, way way too busy to go into much detail but, as a proud Heathen, this kinda bothered me.  And I know I'm going to offend people with this but I don't really care. 

The "Top 8" sang "Shout to the Lord" as the closing number of Wednesday night's "Idol Gives Back" charity drive and then sang it again to open the show last night, Thursday.

Here are the lyrics:

My Jesus, My Savior
Lord there is none like You
All of my days, I want to praise
The wonders of Your mighty love
My Comfort, My Shelter
Tower of refuge and strength
Let every breath, all that I am
Never cease to worship You
(Chorus)
Shout to the Lord, all the earth
Let us sing. Power and majesty, praise to the King.
Mountains bow down and the seas will roar
At the sound of Your name
I sing for joy at the work of Your hands
Forever I'll love you, forever I'll stand
Nothing compares to the promise I have in
YOU!

(chorus)
My Jesus, My Savior
Lord there is none like You
All of my days, I want to praise
The wonders of Your mighty love
My Comfort, My Shelter
Tower of refuge and strength
Let every breath, all that I am
Never cease to worship You

(Chorus)
Shout to the Lord, all the earth
Let us sing. Power and majesty, praise to the King.
Mountains bow down and the seas will roar
At the sound of Your name
I sing for joy at the work of Your hands
Forever I'll love you, forever I'll stand
Nothing compares to the promise I have in
YOU!
(bridge)
let the earth sing
i declare your great name
all of my life i will
with all of my breath
i will praise you
lift it up, life it up

(chorus)

nothing compares to you
i shout your praise
nothing compares to you
Nothing compares to the promise I have in YOU!

OK, I'm all for Freedom of Religion.  I'm all for contemporary Christian music and Christian rock being it's own, very successful industry that caters to a particular segment of the world.  Its become its own genre and even has sub-genres, for sure.  When I went to Church in Houston with my Aunt and Uncle I got a good 45 minute dose of contemporary Christian music, I've heard it piped into elevators and throughout people's homes, at times.  It exists, it's legitimate.  But does it have a place on a show like "American Idol?"

Being that the United States of America has citizens representing almost all religions, I don't think that ANY religious music has an appropriate place in a show like American Idol.  It's different when an individual contestant picks the song, I should clarify.  Because that song choice is sacred and has a place in the singer's heart.  But this was a number chosen by the producers FOR ALL 8 of the contestants to sing...if any of them were Jewish, which has happened before (Elliot, for example), would they have done this??  If any of these kids were Muslim or Buddhist would they have done this?  What if *gasp* one of these kids is an atheist?  Or agnostic or simply not religious at all?

Does it matter?

Anyway.  I hate to be an agnostic-Christian-by-culture pill about this but COME ON.  That song, as beautiful as the message may be for some people, is isolating for (I would guess) most of the audience.  I say that because it is true that most Christians in the U.S. do not identify with an evangelical sect, the folks who are typically into this music.  One may not like country music, for example, but I doubt anyone feels so strongly about their dislike of it that Kristy Lee Cook singing Martina McBride would make them fundamentally uncomfortable.

So yeah, if you don't like it, turn it off, blah blah blah.  And I could have.  But I was so busy sitting there in a state of shock, wondering how all of the non-religious or non-Christian viewers were feeling about this song and it's message, that I couldn't quite reach the remote.

Did this choice have something to do with the theme of the show that night, Idol Gives Back??

Idol Gives Back is a HUMAN effort, not a CHRISTIAN effort, even though a lot of charities supported by it are Christian in origin just as I'm sure a lot of the charities are represented by an array of religions, Western and Non.  So where was their song?

So that's my two cents.  Bring on the country and bluegrass bring on the pop, bring on the rock, bring on the folk, bring on the show tunes, bring on the hip hop, even. 

But please leave personal religious beliefs where they belong - In our hearts.