Saturday, September 30, 2006

Billy Ray!!!!!

A few weeks ago, I took the kids to their first concert.  Actually, it was their second concert as we'd taken them to see They Might Be Giants when they were 3 and 5.  That was a short, but fun show.  (And if you have kids and don't have TMBG's No CD, you are missing something great.)  But this concert was their first big production.  We're talking downtown in the arena.  A real stage show, big video monitors, and 8,300 other screaming fans.  We went to see Hannah Montana and the Cheetah Girls.  If you have kids who watch Disney Channel or listen to Radio Disney, you know who they are.  If you don't, they are what Disney does best:  Find appealing teenagers who can sing, give them a TV showcase, and have them record songs.  Next,  pimp them out all over the country with concert tours and of course, all the ensuing merchandise.  Finally, collect your giant bags of money and call it a day.  Now that I look back on it, I feel a little manipulated.  I mean, really, do a 9 and 6 year old need to go to a stadium concert?  And of course, they can't go by themselves, so I had to buy a ticket, too.  But they're both so into Hannah Montana and the Cheetah Girls that when I heard about the concert, it was actually MY idea to get the tickets.  And I wasn't alone.  Two of my other friends with kids got tickets for their families as well.  There ended up being nine of us: three moms and six kids.  That was about the way the entire crowd broke down.  For every 3 or 4 kids, there was a mom who had brought them.  The funniest part was seeing some of the moms who were all glammed up.  What the hell?  I guess I have more of a life than I thought. 
 
Hilary Duff had toured through here a few years back and I'd talked to someone who'd taken her kids to it.  She said it was so loud that her daughter was actually crying.  We made sure to come prepared with ear plugs, just in case.  David is my kid who is supersensitive to noise.  He spent many years sitting in movie theaters with his hands clamped over his ears, waiting for the audio to start.  He was fine once it got going, but that first onslaught of sound always unsettled him.  I have fond memories of him sticking his face in his popcorn like a feedbag  because he refused to remove his hands from his ears.  David is the reason I haven't seen a fireworks shows since 1991.  True to form, he asked for his ear plugs before we even entered the auditorium. 
 
It took a lot longer to get in than we'd expected, then we had a hell of a time finding our seats.  The lights were down, an opening act was already playing, we were stumbling around looking for our section and the kids were freaking out that they were missing the whole thing.   Somehow we managed to find our seats which were mid-way up the lower level at the far end of the stadium.  We were high enough that we could see over the floor seats and had a straight on view at the stage. 
 
Hannah Montana came on first.  The concept behind the TV show is that a teenage girl named Miley Stewart has a secret identity as a pop star named Hannah Montana.  Miley has long dark hair, but she wears a blonde wig as Hannah, so nobody knows they're the same person.  (It's like the glasses completely disguising Clark Kent, ok?  Work with me, people.)  The role of Miley/Hannah is played by 14-year-old Miley Cyrus, who is the daughter of Billy Ray Cyrus.  On the TV show, Billy Ray plays Miley's dad.  Got that?  Sure, the concept is a little hokey, but Miley Cyrus is absolutely adorable and completely engaging.  I actually enjoy watching the show with the kids. Miley has quite the set of pipes and her songs are as infectious as pop songs can be.  Furthermore--and I never thought I would EVER say this--Billy Ray Cyrus is looking mighty fine these days.  In fact, my friend Amy and I amused ourselves by yelling BILLY RAY during quiet moments of the concert.  (An aside: the other day I found the Achy Breaky Heart video online and showed it to the kids so they could see what Billy Ray used to look like.  I only played it once but hours later as Juliana was getting ready for bed, I heard her upstairs singing it.  Further proof that the song exerts some sort of stealth mind control.  There is nothing so susceptible to being stuck in your head as Achy Breaky Heart.  And don't think I can't hear you all cursing my name already.)
 
So, Hannah Montana came out on stage and she couldn't not have been cuter. She was dressed in a silvery dress over knee length black leggings and tall black boots with sequins around the top.  And of course, she had the long blonde Hannah wig on.  She smiled and sang and danced and would occasionally wave at fans in the first few rows.  Every time she would wave,  Amy's daughter, who just turned 7, would spend the next 10 seconds deliriously and delightedly  waving back at her. 
 
The only thing that concerned me was that they had her out there as Hannah Montana.  Now, on the tickets it said:
 Miley Cyrus as
Hannah Montana
I don't understand why they couldn't just let Miley Cyrus be Miley Cyrus.  I mean, if you watch the show, you know she's Miley pretending to be Hannah.  Why trot her out as Hannah all the time?  Couldn't she at least have taken off the wig at some point?  Would the kids have loved her less if she had?  I think not.  That whole part weirded me out just a bit. 
 
Too soon she was done, and there was a lengthy intermission as they readied the stage for the Cheetah Girls.  The Cheetah Girls started out as a book about four girls who have a singing group and get discovered. A few years back, Disney Channel made the book into a TV movie.  This summer they premeired the second Cheetah Girls movie, hence the timing of this tour.   The four girls are three nobodies plus Raven-Symone who, depending on how old you are, you'll remember either as little Olivia from the Cosby Show or as the lead actress from That's So Raven.  Raven is enormously popular with the Disney set and she starred in both of the Cheetah Girls movies.  When the Cheetah Girls tour, however, Raven isn't with them.  Now, maybe she's too good for them or too busy having a real career, but the problem I have is that the other three NEVER MENTION HER.  I mean, come on.  If we all have to pretend that Hannah Montana is a real person, why can't the Cheetah Girls throw us a bone and say something like "We're so sorry that our friend Raven can't be here today!"  Nope, we got nothing.  It's like Raven was dead to them.  So right off, I was resentful.  Look here bitches, you rode Raven's coat tails to get to where you are now.  Where is the love?  But the more I watched the Cheetah Girls perform, the more I understood why Raven wanted no part of them.  Holy God, as charming as Miley Cyrus was, that's how skanky these chicks were.  Two of the three wore so many hair extensions, I couldn't believe they could actually hold up their heads.  And the costumes, sweet Jesus, the costumes.  Now, it was a Disney show, so there was nothing too risque, but it was more than obvious that their costume designer had been forced to listen to one too many screaming 11 year old and he was going to make those wenches pay.  Each costume was less flattering than the next.  The word that kept coming to my mind was "heinous".  At one point, the frizzy blonde skanky Cheetah Girl was wearing this dowdy, ill-fitting khaki ensemble that must've been an homage to the Crocodile Hunter.  There couldn't possibly be any other explanation.  Oh, the pain.  And their set went on forEVER.  After a few songs, Juliana announced she had a tummy ache and spent the rest of the show curled up on my lap.  <sigh>  I wasn't too surprised because this is often how she deals with sensory overload.  She didn't want ear plugs and she didn't want to leave, but she needed to be on my body.  After we'd been there nearly 2 hours (the show started at 4 PM) Juliana's friend Shannon leaned over to me and said "Is it 8:00 now?  Because it feels like it's probably 8:00 by now."  From your lips to God's ears, sister.  They would not stop singing.  And somewhere along the way, they decided that melodies were optional.  Just a waste of time.  You know, sort of like attractive costumes.  David and his friend Andrew who had been on their feet and attentive during Hannah Montana, were now engrossed in Andrew's gameboy.  Andrew's 12 year old sister was playing Tetris on her mother's cell phone.  Excuse me, Cheetah Girls, but if you've lost the 12 year old girl segment of your audience perhaps it's time to SHUT THE FUCK UP. 
 
Ok, how about a few pictures?  I took them with my phone, so forgive the graininess.
 
Here's David, who really hates to have his picture taken.  Note the ear plugs firmly in place. 
 
Juliana--think she was a little excited?
 
Juliana and Shannon, happy with popcorn.

Thursday, September 28, 2006

A Conversation With My Friend Jimmy That Almost Made Me Wreck My Car

Me:  I'm calling you because I'm trying to figure out the best route to get from ballet to soccer practice.  Would you come back towards town or would you go out around the lake?

Him:  Geez, I'm not sure.  You could probably take the back way and you'd end up over by Spaghetti Already.

Me: What?  That is NOT what that place is called.

Him: Sure it is.  Spaghetti Already.

Me: No, I know the place you mean, but it's totally not called that.

Him: Yes, it is.

Me:  No....it's something like that though.  It's like Curry In A
Hurry, only something to do with pasta.

Him: What is it then?  Noodle Caboodle?

Me:  NO!  Stop it, I'm going to crash the car.

Him: It's Spaghetti Already.  Here, I'll look it up in the phone book.

Me: Wait!  I've got it!  It's Speedy Linguine.

(Later, I emailed him to verify whether he'd envisioned it as Spaghetti Already or Spaghetti All Ready.  His response--with the duh definitely implied--was Spaghetti Alreadi.)

Monday, September 25, 2006

The Start of School

Hi!  Remember me?  I'll spare all the excuses and get right into it:  My baby is now in first grade.  This means she is in school all day from 9:10 to 3:25.  I know I was supposed to dance my way down the halls when school started, but that was a big no-go.  Instead I spent most of the first day fighting off tears.  I only gave into them when I was driving.  Be glad you don't drive the same roads I do.  I ended up exhausted and with a crying headache that I couldn't shake for hours.  That first day as I looked around and saw mothers with toddlers out on errands, I wanted to pull them aside and say, "I know it can be hard right now, but cherish this time...it's gone so soon."  Good God, I needed to smack myself.   I swear, I'm not usually this sappy, but damn I miss that girl when she's gone.  She's my best helper and my mostliest companion (5 points to the first person to identify that reference).  Sure, she drives me nuts sometimes--have I mentioned the ubiquitous perkiness (the other day she came downstairs with a handful of paper hearts on which she'd written love notes, then skipped and scattered them around all the while chanting: Here comes the Love Lady!) and the incessant talking?  But how I miss having her to go places with.  She makes me brave.  With her by my side, I could walk into stores that would otherwise intimidate me.  And she was always up for lunch out, which worked out well since I am all about not making meals. 

I experienced these feelings to a lesser degree when David started first grade.   I fought tears that day, too, and I remember having to run an errand that took me maybe 10 miles from the school.  I felt panicky at being that far away.  It somehow felt disloyal.  It seemed like he was gone so long each day and it made me feel so obsolete.  But, of course, I still had Juliana with me. 

I've yet to have any days lying on the couch with a box of bon bons.  In fact, I've been busier than ever thanks to my stepped up volunteering with the school and our synagogue.  I'm both more committed and free-er than I've been in nine years.  I need to get a few regular, weekly commitments to anchor the rest of my days and get me into a routine.  Although school has been in session for three weeks, I'm still sort of feeling at looseends some days.

David is in fourth grade this year, and his is a blended class which means he has the same teacher for a second year.  That minimized the back to school stress significantly.  We waited anxiously for the first grade letter to arrive and the good news is that Juliana was placed in the classroom that I was hoping for.  It's taught by two teachers who job share and they seem to be a really good team and clued into the entire first grade experience....not just academics, but social development as well.  As an added bonus, Juliana is in the same class as her best friend Shannon.  So, really, except for feeling like my heart has been ripped out, I'm extremely pleased.

Indulge me for a quick bragging session.  David's teacher recommended that he be tested for the gifted program.  She informed Ritu of it on the first day of school.  I don't want to say that I doubted my kid was smart, but my first response was:  She knows you're David's dad, right?  Appparently he scored really high on both the math and reading sections of whatever testing they did last year.   I have to say that I was a bit surprised.  He always seems to be solidly in the middle of the pack and his school work challenges him, but maybe I've confused  the difficulties he has with the physical act of handwriting with meaning he was having trouble with the work.  But hey, it's like  the Academy Awards around here.  Whether or not he scores high enough on the gifted entry test, it's a yooooge honor just to be nominated.  It's a great ego boost for my little guy who has had a series of nagging things to deal with (nine months of occupational therapy for fine motor issues, a year of speech therapy).  Oh, and not to mention a mother who always thought he was dumb.

And while we're at it, Juliana's teacher pulled me aside to tell me how impressed she was with her writing.  They've been doing "personal narratives" and she'll sit down and whip through page after page of writing.  She's always been like that.  Hell, she wrote a four page story one afternoon while she was in Kindergarten.  With David writing was (and is) like pulling teeth, so to have a child who writes for fun just blows my mind.


OK, here's hoping that getting this posted will break the logjam in my blogging. 




Sunday, September 10, 2006

In Lieu of Actual Blogging

I've got tons and tons I'd like to blog about, but the first week of school and all the other related activities have knocked me on my ass.  It doesn't help that Ritu's been out of town since Wednesday.  Instead of blogging, I've discovered how easy it is to waste time over at YouTube.  This evening I've spent time trying to figure out how to add YouTube links to my blog.  But I don't just want the links; I want those cool things where you see the little screen and just click on play.  If anybody knows how (or if) this can be done with an AOL blog, please let me know.

So, instead, I'll do boring old links. 

If you watch The Office (and so far I've only seen the American version) then you know it's a comedy, and a very funny one at that.  But the Jim and Pam characters are what anchors the rest of the show and their relationship is one of  the best on television.  Here's a link to the NBC promo for the new season, highlighting them.  I can't even tell you how this makes me grin.  While perusing YouTube I found that there are a zillion videos people have made, all of Jim and Pam moments.  I won't admit to how many I've watched today.

Next, while we're all about pop culture, Battlestar Galactica starts up next month!  The second season ended back in February with a major mindfuck.  October seemed forever away, but now it's finally just around the corner.  Here's the promo for season three.     And this seems like as good a time as any for a Jamie Bamber picture. 


My God, how I love television.

Lastly, I found a video of something I saw on television ELEVEN years ago.  It was a Patti Labelle special and she sang some duets with Cyndi Lauper.  I remember sitting in my grandmother's den watching it and being completely blown away.  I only ever saw it once, but it stuck with me.  It took me about 3 seconds of searching to find it this afternoon. Here ya go.  They sang Time After Time which is one of my all time favorite songs, and one that can move me to tears.  This version isincredible. 


Now I need to go pack school lunches.  But, maybe I'll check out just a few more Pam and Jim videos first.....