My profession,....scratch that,....EVERY profession has its own celebrities. Men and women who walk into a room of accountants and their hearts swoon. From software designers that sign floppy discs to architects that have their blueprints framed to keynote speakers at the annual plumber's convention, there's a "quasi-celebrity" nature to folks who have ascended to the peak of virtually every vocation known to man.
In my world, the Mount Rushmore of fame would include directors like Brett Carroll (a dear friend) and David Fehr, choreographer Dwight Jordan (who's never really liked me very much for some reason), and arranger Kirby Shaw. Kirby Shaw, he of the unusual haircut, Indian-patterned shirts, nonsensical tangents of singing and poetry, sudden bouts of scat-singing,........and more than 1,000 songs in publication and over 30 million copies sold!! THAT Kirby Shaw! One of the true highlights of my career unfolded over the past week when I traveled to the Tacoma, Washington area to be his choreographer for a 6-day camp of 48 enthusiastic Spanaway kids.
I instantly liked Kirby, as I walked in on his introductory rehearsal with the kids to find him massaging some vocal lines in "All The Cats Join In". Sitting behind him at a desk, I didn't even know if he knew I was in the room until he made a point of some sort, whirled around and said, "Don't you agree, Damon? Oh, by the way, howdy!!" Any sense of pretense, snobbishness, entitlement, or aloofness has never made it into this man's persona, and he quickly puts anybody who meets him on equal footing as friend and colleague.
For the next 5 days (with the exception of the Tuesday he took off to go hiking in nearby Mount Ranier National Park), Kirby rehearsed, cajoled, twisted, shaped and fortified the sound and vocal acumen of the kids we were entrusted to teach. Weird stories would pop out of his mouth at any time, and like me, he never feared using completely random and meaningless moments to make the rehearsal more engaging and fun for the kids. One example occurred when he spent 5 minutes auditioning kids to see who could do the best fake cymbal sound to use whenever he told a bad joke. Another happened right before the camp's final show when, after both of us gave emotional pep talks about seizing the moment and bringing joy and celebration to the stage, Kirby quietly sat down at the piano and played a blues song about people eating McDonald's Hamburgers!!! For my part, my best "weirdness" of the week came while teaching the GLEE Medley. For the dozen kids or so that had never seen the show, I acted out several ridiculous, impromptu scenes of the show playing all the characters myself! (Kirby was impressed,....or perhaps just frightened!)
Some of my favorite parts of the week came out of our nightly dinners. First at Barney and Norma Jean's, then at Katie's, then finally at Mike's. Each meal lasted nearly 3 hours, with us talking about everything from the kids to politics to travel to Double Dream Hands having its own apple Iphone app! We talked about music, the future of education, roller derby (not joking!), competitive show choir, Italy, death rates from auto accidents in different countries, marriage, and Kirby's wife's new hobby of painting with her feet. We learned about his upcoming travels to Australia to work with jazz choirs in Perth, his history at Colorado State, College of the Siskiyous, his friendships with Roger Emerson and John Jacobson, and how he came to be an arranger in the first place. From wines, coffees and favorite beers, to family moments, favorite charts and intricate business insight into Hal Leonard and educational publishing, we covered so many bases I could never count them! Whether it was sitting under a blanket of evergreen-shadowed sunshine or a drizzly mist on Mike's patio I enjoyed every,...single,.....moment!
The final two days of the camp saw us finally begin to work rehearsals in tandem. Working basically as a "tag-team" of sorts, we quickly brought the show together and pumped more energy, detail and heart into the totally exhausted campers. Though we took little snippets of time to do things separately, these 2 days were truly a collaborative effort, with me chirping in on vocal details and Kirby mentioning facials and focus points more than a few times. I was working side-by-side, as a total equal, with a "king" of my profession, and I stopped at one point to simply sit in silence and thank God for the privilege He'd given me.
As we got ready for the final show, Kirby and I went back to Barney's house for an hour to get changed and relax a bit by ourselves. In the car ride, Kirby suddenly turned serious for the first time all week with me. "Damon", he said, "I can tell you think you're an underdog in this profession because you've never done Show Choir Camps Of America. I want you to know from the bottom of my heart that I believe you're in the very top echilon of people that do this in the nation, and that I'd love the opportunity to work with you anytime, anywhere." I started to interrupt to thank him as I simultaneously found a lump in my throat, but he continued. "You're heart for kids and music is so evident when you teach, and you really know how to reach these kids in a special way. My friend, you're a true professional." When we got to Barney's house I went to the bathroom, turned on the shower,.....and cried.
A successful show followed and as I started to say goodbye with a handshake, my hand was brushed aside and replaced with a bear hug. We signed autographs (imagine that,.....so funny!) and posed for pictures with the kids, then said goodbye, as Kirby left for the airport and I left to see Miss Chapel (who sang the POOP out of "Sweet Child Of Mine" at the talent show!) play roller derby with the "Hellbound Homewreckers" at Pierce College in Tacoma.
The final smile of the weekend came after my return flight home. I got FIVE e-mails from Kirby on Monday giving me wonderful constructive criticism and praise for some of my original songs he listened to. But although I appreciated that more than he could imagine, I was far more touched by how he began the first letter. He reiterated his joy from the past week, said he was looking forward to doing it all again next summer, and then called me his "very dear, newfound friend" that he'd be happy to collaborate or judge with anytime, anywhere." Words just can't express how this made me feel.
Is Kirby a flawed guy,....yep? I think he's a Democrat!! (for my left-leaning friends, that's a JOKE!!!!!) Of course he's just like the rest of us, faults and all, but therein lies part of the quality of this man. He doesn't pretend to be anything else. He's an older guy who still works out, still loves arranging, loves passing down knowledge, has a happy marriage, has maintained the voice of somebody twenty years younger, and serves as an inspiration to those like me, who got in trouble for ripping my shirt open at Yorktown High School while singing Kirby's rendition of "Let The Sunshine In" in 1982!
I'm so thankful for this new friendship, and not only because of the business connection angle of it all. I'm thankful to have made a new friend, to have a new person to laugh and share music and stories and random humor with, and to look forward to seeing again and again. A blessing from God, and a story I'm honored to tell.
Tuesday, July 3, 2012
Wednesday, June 27, 2012
Ahh, Seattle.
In the midst of the blessing, we often fail to recognize its existence.
This past Sunday, the flurry of preparation, suitcase-pacing and tornadic activity that is my life landed me in the Seattle/Tacoma Airport. I LOVE this part of the country, with its rain and mountains, rain and pine forests, rain and wilderness, rain and character-filled cities,.....and its rain. Though I'm not particularly a fan of the wet stuff, it feeds and nourishes the ambience and environment that makes the Pacific Northwest unique among America's geography.
Upon landing, I drove straight into the Capitol Hill section of downtown Seattle to it's most famous coffee shop, "Bauhaus Books and Coffee". It's part hippie gathering place, part laptop computer orgy, part old-fashioned library, and entirely a wonderful place to grab a latte' and a red-pepper/cucumber and hummus flatbread!! After getting my order I walked upstairs, but quickly turned around upon seeing EVERY SINGLE TABLE with a laptop on it, and opted for a downstairs table by a window.
I read a hippie newspaper, and focused on an article supporting gay marriage by comparing heterosexual marriage to things like marrying your pet, marrying multiple wives, marrying by arrangement, and marrying into the swinging lifestyle (know,.....thine,.....enemy!). Evidently this story upset me so much that I decided to dump half of my delicious $4.50 latte on top of my half-eaten flatbread! What a mess, and so many looks of, "great job little tourist idiot!" Fortunately the staff helped me clean it up when they saw I was abusing the forest's ecosystem by using too many napkins to wipe up the spill.
I finished up, actually enjoying the coffee shop and its lovely view of the Space Needle and headed out for a walk around this very eccentric and artsy-fartsy part of town. I passed a man dressed as a Geisha, a topless man in spandex pants laying seductively across a series of newspaper boxes, and was caught off-guard by the blur of three boys racing on a severe downhill slope on their skateboards through a red light!! The stroll took me past more coffee shops, some lovely cafes, a cool restaurant that's totally open-kitchen dining (checkmark mentally to take Tina there someday!) and a quirky furniture store that seemed to specialize in things nobody would ever want. I grabbed a slice of yummy streetside pizza, and headed towards an open-air market near Seattle Central College.
Organic everything filled my eyes in a vision that would've given a vegan multiple orgasms! Ethnic food booths, farm-to-customer produce kiosks, cruelty-free lemonade (okay, I made that up), and nary a pesticide, fungicide, or suicide to be found! Wandering the booths I considered all the options, and selected,....nothing. It was worth it just to be in such a "seattle-y" kinda place and enjoy the atmosphere.
Finally, it was time to head back to the car and start my drive to the town of Spanaway, about 40 miles to the south. It was to be my home for this entire week, and will be the focus of my next blog post. My mission, which I chose to accept with gratitude, was being the choreographer at a summer camp of 50 kids for one of the true legends of my profession, Mr Kirby Shaw. He of the 30 million plus music copies sold, of the collaborator with jazz god Bobby McFerrin, and of the status of most published arranger in the history of high school choral music. He and I were to lead our enthusiastic troops through the fields of musical battle, and onto the stage for a show this Saturday. Although I'll elaborate more in my next post, it's been a fun, weird, rewarding week so far, and the best is yet to come!
This past Sunday, the flurry of preparation, suitcase-pacing and tornadic activity that is my life landed me in the Seattle/Tacoma Airport. I LOVE this part of the country, with its rain and mountains, rain and pine forests, rain and wilderness, rain and character-filled cities,.....and its rain. Though I'm not particularly a fan of the wet stuff, it feeds and nourishes the ambience and environment that makes the Pacific Northwest unique among America's geography.
Upon landing, I drove straight into the Capitol Hill section of downtown Seattle to it's most famous coffee shop, "Bauhaus Books and Coffee". It's part hippie gathering place, part laptop computer orgy, part old-fashioned library, and entirely a wonderful place to grab a latte' and a red-pepper/cucumber and hummus flatbread!! After getting my order I walked upstairs, but quickly turned around upon seeing EVERY SINGLE TABLE with a laptop on it, and opted for a downstairs table by a window.
I read a hippie newspaper, and focused on an article supporting gay marriage by comparing heterosexual marriage to things like marrying your pet, marrying multiple wives, marrying by arrangement, and marrying into the swinging lifestyle (know,.....thine,.....enemy!). Evidently this story upset me so much that I decided to dump half of my delicious $4.50 latte on top of my half-eaten flatbread! What a mess, and so many looks of, "great job little tourist idiot!" Fortunately the staff helped me clean it up when they saw I was abusing the forest's ecosystem by using too many napkins to wipe up the spill.
I finished up, actually enjoying the coffee shop and its lovely view of the Space Needle and headed out for a walk around this very eccentric and artsy-fartsy part of town. I passed a man dressed as a Geisha, a topless man in spandex pants laying seductively across a series of newspaper boxes, and was caught off-guard by the blur of three boys racing on a severe downhill slope on their skateboards through a red light!! The stroll took me past more coffee shops, some lovely cafes, a cool restaurant that's totally open-kitchen dining (checkmark mentally to take Tina there someday!) and a quirky furniture store that seemed to specialize in things nobody would ever want. I grabbed a slice of yummy streetside pizza, and headed towards an open-air market near Seattle Central College.
Organic everything filled my eyes in a vision that would've given a vegan multiple orgasms! Ethnic food booths, farm-to-customer produce kiosks, cruelty-free lemonade (okay, I made that up), and nary a pesticide, fungicide, or suicide to be found! Wandering the booths I considered all the options, and selected,....nothing. It was worth it just to be in such a "seattle-y" kinda place and enjoy the atmosphere.
Finally, it was time to head back to the car and start my drive to the town of Spanaway, about 40 miles to the south. It was to be my home for this entire week, and will be the focus of my next blog post. My mission, which I chose to accept with gratitude, was being the choreographer at a summer camp of 50 kids for one of the true legends of my profession, Mr Kirby Shaw. He of the 30 million plus music copies sold, of the collaborator with jazz god Bobby McFerrin, and of the status of most published arranger in the history of high school choral music. He and I were to lead our enthusiastic troops through the fields of musical battle, and onto the stage for a show this Saturday. Although I'll elaborate more in my next post, it's been a fun, weird, rewarding week so far, and the best is yet to come!
Sunday, May 20, 2012
Within Two Weeks
Life is lived in many ways, but often measured only by a few. We measure an hour, a day, a week, a month, a year, and that's about it. As I sit on an American Airlines flight, perched 32,000 feet in the sky and heading towards California to pick up Morgan, I'm thinking about my last two weeks. For some reason, they seem even more eventful than normal, but then again I don't particularly HAVE a "normal" existence!
There have been rehearsals at Beavercreek, auditions in Iowa, show planning meetings with Carroll and Franklin Central, and massive e-mail planning exchanges with Rick Lunt. There have been houses sold, moving boxes packed, furniture donated and meetings with real estate lawyers and roofing contractors (blech!!). Paper Jukebox Publishing, my new songwriting venture with Ted Arthur of Purdue University has brought it's first new song of the year to fruition, "One Great Big Adventure". It's a really solid first effort that we're both proud of.
Morgan's UCO group from Cal Baptist toured like a whirlwind through Indiana a week ago, making stops in Kokomo, Fort Wayne, and Anderson. Along with her friends Tiffany, Nikki and Kelsey, we had 2 precious days with them running from show to show, visiting Nature's Karma, Flying Cupcake, SoHo, and Cooper's Hawk Winery. Each and every show made me cry like a baby with pride and the emanating presence of God's love that saturates every room this magnificent group brings music to. I said a tearful goodbye to Dr. Gary Bonner, and thanked him for truly enriching and inspiring the lives of my entire family.
I spent 4 days in Detroit with the Grosse Pointe folks, staging a TON of music, stealing little jogs along the shores of Lake Saint Clair, visiting over braised short rib quesadillas with Ellen Bowen, watching NBA playoffs at night (Go Pacers!!!), and doing Colorado research in my "spare" time. The last two weeks have seen me put together new song edits for Tarpon Springs, Iowa City, Bettendorf, Kennedy, Carroll, Appling and FC, plus communicate with my new clients in Seattle and celebrate the passage of a tax referendum for my friends in Zionsville.
Two weeks ago I ran the Indy 500 Mini-Marathon for the 21st time, amidst the blast of teeny bopper head-bangers, old folk cloggers, a bagpipe serenade, streetside preachers, and folks keeling over and passing out from the heat. I spent a weekend singing on the vocal team at Northview, and likely helped to bring worship music to 3,000-4,000 attendees.
Madeline and I did a breakfast at Einstein's, followed by a 12-mile bike ride yesterday (funny, she realized after the ride that her tires had been almost flat the entire time!) Tina and I had a romantic dinner at Abuelo's the night before, and I bought her 2 dozen roses for Mother's Day the pprevious Sunday.
Grandma Olive, unfortunately, is in the last stages of her life and I pray for her eternal soul to soon rest in the arms of God. This is a tough time for Brook and Jim, and I further pray for their comfort in what is a really sad time of grieving.
Today, we bring this 14-day period of pure lunacy to its conclusion with,.....a flight to LA followed by a jog this afternoon on Newport Beach and a trip this evening to see my first game at Dodger Stadium!! I plan on arriving early, watching batting practice, and having a famous Dodger Dog!! Tomorrow, Morgan arrives back in Riverside, at which time we pack up the car and head 2,200 miles northwest. Through California, Nevada, Arizona, Utah, Colorado (stopping at Vail!!!), Nebraska, Iowa, Illinois and Indiana. Our arrival home will be full of rest,.......since we MOVE TWO DAYS LATER!!!
Busy and blessed, blessed and busy. Just plain busy, but just plain blessed!!...........did I mention I had a dream about pushing a lady down a flight of stairs for no reason?
There have been rehearsals at Beavercreek, auditions in Iowa, show planning meetings with Carroll and Franklin Central, and massive e-mail planning exchanges with Rick Lunt. There have been houses sold, moving boxes packed, furniture donated and meetings with real estate lawyers and roofing contractors (blech!!). Paper Jukebox Publishing, my new songwriting venture with Ted Arthur of Purdue University has brought it's first new song of the year to fruition, "One Great Big Adventure". It's a really solid first effort that we're both proud of.
Morgan's UCO group from Cal Baptist toured like a whirlwind through Indiana a week ago, making stops in Kokomo, Fort Wayne, and Anderson. Along with her friends Tiffany, Nikki and Kelsey, we had 2 precious days with them running from show to show, visiting Nature's Karma, Flying Cupcake, SoHo, and Cooper's Hawk Winery. Each and every show made me cry like a baby with pride and the emanating presence of God's love that saturates every room this magnificent group brings music to. I said a tearful goodbye to Dr. Gary Bonner, and thanked him for truly enriching and inspiring the lives of my entire family.
I spent 4 days in Detroit with the Grosse Pointe folks, staging a TON of music, stealing little jogs along the shores of Lake Saint Clair, visiting over braised short rib quesadillas with Ellen Bowen, watching NBA playoffs at night (Go Pacers!!!), and doing Colorado research in my "spare" time. The last two weeks have seen me put together new song edits for Tarpon Springs, Iowa City, Bettendorf, Kennedy, Carroll, Appling and FC, plus communicate with my new clients in Seattle and celebrate the passage of a tax referendum for my friends in Zionsville.
Two weeks ago I ran the Indy 500 Mini-Marathon for the 21st time, amidst the blast of teeny bopper head-bangers, old folk cloggers, a bagpipe serenade, streetside preachers, and folks keeling over and passing out from the heat. I spent a weekend singing on the vocal team at Northview, and likely helped to bring worship music to 3,000-4,000 attendees.
Madeline and I did a breakfast at Einstein's, followed by a 12-mile bike ride yesterday (funny, she realized after the ride that her tires had been almost flat the entire time!) Tina and I had a romantic dinner at Abuelo's the night before, and I bought her 2 dozen roses for Mother's Day the pprevious Sunday.
Grandma Olive, unfortunately, is in the last stages of her life and I pray for her eternal soul to soon rest in the arms of God. This is a tough time for Brook and Jim, and I further pray for their comfort in what is a really sad time of grieving.
Today, we bring this 14-day period of pure lunacy to its conclusion with,.....a flight to LA followed by a jog this afternoon on Newport Beach and a trip this evening to see my first game at Dodger Stadium!! I plan on arriving early, watching batting practice, and having a famous Dodger Dog!! Tomorrow, Morgan arrives back in Riverside, at which time we pack up the car and head 2,200 miles northwest. Through California, Nevada, Arizona, Utah, Colorado (stopping at Vail!!!), Nebraska, Iowa, Illinois and Indiana. Our arrival home will be full of rest,.......since we MOVE TWO DAYS LATER!!!
Busy and blessed, blessed and busy. Just plain busy, but just plain blessed!!...........did I mention I had a dream about pushing a lady down a flight of stairs for no reason?
Sunday, April 22, 2012
A Couple Perfect Days
My annual trip to the SoCal competition in San Diego is over, and what a dynamite trip it was. There are so many reasons, so many memories and so much to mull over from these couple perfect days that I had to "feel a blogpost comin' on"!
It all started with a flight to the west coast and an evening with Brett Carroll's Burbank kids. Some really great rehearsal time with In Sync, then back to Brett's for a yummy home-cooked dinner on the back porch, and an introduction to Sancho, his puggle. A good night's sleep, then off to Carlsbad, for some Pannikin Inn iced cinnamon mocha, a jog on the beach, and some one-on-one time with my wonderful Carlsbad groups and Christy Owen.
Thursday night brought me to the Sheraton Harbor Island in San Diego, where I met up with Morgan for a much anticipated daddy-daughter visit. A late night bite at the sports bar, and off to slumber with our balcony door WIDE open to embrace the cool San Diego breezes as we slept.
Friday was busy, busy, busy,.....but also awesome, awesome, awesome!! After grabbing some Starbucks, we headed 2 hours back to California Baptist for Morgan to perform in an opera recital for her 84-year old voice instructor, Betty Olsen. Der Fleidermaus is a famous comedic opera where Morgan shined with both her voice and comedic timing, as she interracted with her partner Trent, in a "scandalous" opera piece about their extra-marital tryst!
Even more spectacular, though, was her duet with Even Lo, her small group leader. a GORGEOUS and explosive love duet about 2 people who long to be together. Morgan was hitting high B's in a way that seemed virtually effortless (she now has a high D in her repetoire!!!!!), and their chemistry was palpable. Overall, so many of the singers performed with glorious professionalism and made this opera hater love every last moment of the recital!!
After meeting Betty, taking pictures, and grabbing a 5-minute visit with Dr. Bonner (who called Morgan a "star"!), we had lunch at Cal Baptist, where I got to meet Morgan's beautiful new roomies for next year. We had a bit of time to kill, so we took a side trip to San Juan Capistrano to sightsee and visit Hidden House, home of the best iced and spiced chai teas in the world!
We visited garden shops, boutiques, and a wonderful antique mall before climbing back in the car and heading to day one of SoCal at Chula Vista High School. My Carlsbad girls won first place and Burbank OOTB got second in a close battle with Burroughs, then we grabbed some Shakey's pizza and headed back to the hotel.
Saturday morning couldn't have been any better. It started with morning coffee and a tremendous breakfast buffet at the hotel (which featured starfruit, an oatmeal bar, a million different pastries, egg white casseroles, and extra crispy bacon,...my fave!!). After that, we headed to play some ping-pong, where I promptly schooled my first-born before stepping on and crushing the only ball available.
Walking along the harbor island waterfront trail, we caught an unexpected and cool surprise. As we walked along chatting and watching pelicans dive bomb for fish, Morgan exclaimed, "Daddy, look over there!" We were blessed to see 2 dolphins from a distance of maybe 30 feet away, followed by a lone harbor seal swimming lazily around the bay. Once back at the hotel, it was an hour of sunbathing by the pool before Morgan had to pack her bags and head back to the reality of concert schedules and homework.
I grabbed a 6-mile waterfront run (which was much needed due to my food intake on the trip), and then caught a taxi over to Golden Hall for the SoCal Finals. Carlsbad's "Atlantis" show scored the highest in their division, but got beaten on rankings, while Burbank's "Prodigal" scored 2 points behind Burroughs, but was victorious on rankings! I also choreographed the men's champion and ladies runner-up, and got both a temporary face tattoo and a green painted-on mohawk to support my two schools.
Overall, just a simply fantastic weekend that I'll always remember. Next week, the process of selection of our new home in Colorado begins, when I travel to judge the Colorado State Music Championships in Colorado Springs. I'm meeting for an afternoon with Mary Fontana, a real estate agent, to get a lay of the land in the Springs housing market. In October, Tina and I are flying out for a week, looking at Fort Collins and the Springs, talking to loads of folks, and then getting about the business of prioritizing where we want our new home to be starting in July of 2013,.....whew.
It all started with a flight to the west coast and an evening with Brett Carroll's Burbank kids. Some really great rehearsal time with In Sync, then back to Brett's for a yummy home-cooked dinner on the back porch, and an introduction to Sancho, his puggle. A good night's sleep, then off to Carlsbad, for some Pannikin Inn iced cinnamon mocha, a jog on the beach, and some one-on-one time with my wonderful Carlsbad groups and Christy Owen.
Thursday night brought me to the Sheraton Harbor Island in San Diego, where I met up with Morgan for a much anticipated daddy-daughter visit. A late night bite at the sports bar, and off to slumber with our balcony door WIDE open to embrace the cool San Diego breezes as we slept.
Friday was busy, busy, busy,.....but also awesome, awesome, awesome!! After grabbing some Starbucks, we headed 2 hours back to California Baptist for Morgan to perform in an opera recital for her 84-year old voice instructor, Betty Olsen. Der Fleidermaus is a famous comedic opera where Morgan shined with both her voice and comedic timing, as she interracted with her partner Trent, in a "scandalous" opera piece about their extra-marital tryst!
Even more spectacular, though, was her duet with Even Lo, her small group leader. a GORGEOUS and explosive love duet about 2 people who long to be together. Morgan was hitting high B's in a way that seemed virtually effortless (she now has a high D in her repetoire!!!!!), and their chemistry was palpable. Overall, so many of the singers performed with glorious professionalism and made this opera hater love every last moment of the recital!!
After meeting Betty, taking pictures, and grabbing a 5-minute visit with Dr. Bonner (who called Morgan a "star"!), we had lunch at Cal Baptist, where I got to meet Morgan's beautiful new roomies for next year. We had a bit of time to kill, so we took a side trip to San Juan Capistrano to sightsee and visit Hidden House, home of the best iced and spiced chai teas in the world!
We visited garden shops, boutiques, and a wonderful antique mall before climbing back in the car and heading to day one of SoCal at Chula Vista High School. My Carlsbad girls won first place and Burbank OOTB got second in a close battle with Burroughs, then we grabbed some Shakey's pizza and headed back to the hotel.
Saturday morning couldn't have been any better. It started with morning coffee and a tremendous breakfast buffet at the hotel (which featured starfruit, an oatmeal bar, a million different pastries, egg white casseroles, and extra crispy bacon,...my fave!!). After that, we headed to play some ping-pong, where I promptly schooled my first-born before stepping on and crushing the only ball available.
Walking along the harbor island waterfront trail, we caught an unexpected and cool surprise. As we walked along chatting and watching pelicans dive bomb for fish, Morgan exclaimed, "Daddy, look over there!" We were blessed to see 2 dolphins from a distance of maybe 30 feet away, followed by a lone harbor seal swimming lazily around the bay. Once back at the hotel, it was an hour of sunbathing by the pool before Morgan had to pack her bags and head back to the reality of concert schedules and homework.
I grabbed a 6-mile waterfront run (which was much needed due to my food intake on the trip), and then caught a taxi over to Golden Hall for the SoCal Finals. Carlsbad's "Atlantis" show scored the highest in their division, but got beaten on rankings, while Burbank's "Prodigal" scored 2 points behind Burroughs, but was victorious on rankings! I also choreographed the men's champion and ladies runner-up, and got both a temporary face tattoo and a green painted-on mohawk to support my two schools.
Overall, just a simply fantastic weekend that I'll always remember. Next week, the process of selection of our new home in Colorado begins, when I travel to judge the Colorado State Music Championships in Colorado Springs. I'm meeting for an afternoon with Mary Fontana, a real estate agent, to get a lay of the land in the Springs housing market. In October, Tina and I are flying out for a week, looking at Fort Collins and the Springs, talking to loads of folks, and then getting about the business of prioritizing where we want our new home to be starting in July of 2013,.....whew.
Sunday, April 8, 2012
New York 2012
Another trip to the Big Apple is in the rearview mirror, and I have to say it was a pretty darn good one. Here are my top memories from yet another memorable trip to Manhattan:
-Ghost the Musical took my breath away with its technology, music and story-telling!
-Newsies and Leap Of Faith both delivered great music and staging, even if the storylines and "dot connecting" weren't always the most realistic!
-Matthew Broderick (who I walked past and nearly bumped into) looks WAY older in person!!!
-Dinner at Thalia's with Megan Reinking was a true highlight, although an 11 p.m. dinner and my stomach aren't always in perfect harmony. However, note to self: Apricot nectar and mandarin vodka are an A+ martini combination!
-3 seven-mile jogs in Central Park on breezy, sunny days make anyone's life a little bit better. The elm trees just get prettier every stinkin' year!
-Brooklyn Diner a'int what it used to be.
-Hip-hop dance class + almost 47-year-old man = OUCH!!
-Bis Co. Latte is just a really neat place for biscotti and lattes.
-Times Square never gets old.
-Hearing somebody playing bagpipes while you jog creates a sense of inner peace,...who'd have thunk it?
-Three days is about my limit in NYC before I want to SCREAM!!!
I won't be returning to the city in 2013 because of family budgeting and such, but I anxiously will anticipate a 2014 reunion. Who knows, maybe a plain hot dog will be FOUR dollars by then!!
Wednesday, March 7, 2012
No Longer Peyton's Place
And so, on March 6th, 2012, the Indianapolis Colts have decided to hand the car keys to an undrafted rookie named Andrew Luck. This is gonna be painful, as the keys were held and the car driven masterfully for nearly 15 years by one of the greatest quarterbacks in the history of the game, Peyton Manning.
I remember washing my car in the driveway during the draft of 1998. It was a sunny, slightly chilly day, and I had the radio turned up in anticipation of the Colts drafting the man of my dreams (so to speak!). I listened, I tensed up with anticipation, and let out a sigh of disappointment when they didn't choose,......RYAN LEAF!!!!! Oh well, I thought, Manning will probably be okay as a substitute. THIS, by itself, is likely the single piece of damning evidence that would be used to seal the case against me if I ever applied for a General Manager's position in the NFL!!
To properly pay homage to Peyton is nearly impossible, but I want to at least tip my hat and offer my meaningless thanks for who he's been and what he's done. Among my memories of his time with our city:
-Ummmm,........WINNING THE SUPER BOWL!!!!!!
-Inventing a brand-new type of offense, where reading the defense at the line of scrimmage and calling audibles on practically every play has redefined what's possible offensively.
-Winning at least 11 games every year for 12 straight years.
-Becoming one of the funniest television commercial actors I've ever seen (the Mastercard series was "priceless")
-Setting over 20 all-time NFL passing records, with more to come in future years.
-Being so durable for 13 straight years, that most people couldn't identify out of a police line-up who the Colts back-up quarterback was! (And when we finally found out, we wretched!)
-Conducting the single biggest "Arms Race" with Tom Brady since the USA-Soviet Cold War.
-Making arrogant defensive backs look like diaper-wetting toddlers while picking them apart time after time after time.
-His astounding telepathy with Marvin Harrison and Reggie Wayne.
-The wonderful relationship he had with Tony Dungy.
But in addition, there's a personal side that I think speaks more highly of Peyton than his football accolades:
-Building a Children's Hospital that serves tons of underprivileged kids.
-Representing our city with class, dignity, a killer work ethic and integrity.
-Fighting through broken jaws, concussions, sprained ankles, dislocated fingers and herniated discs in his neck just to keep playing.
-NEVER making statements that embarassed our city. NEVER appearing in a police mugshot after beating his wife or kids. NEVER throwing teammates under the bus. NEVER "taking it easy" on opponents. NEVER taking all the credit himself. NEVER failing to thrust that credit upon his receivers, offensive line, coaches or defense. NEVER failing to come to the aid of those less fortunate, as was the case with Hurricane Katrina, tons of hospital visits (most of which were never reported), charity bowling tournaments, charity golf fundraisers, and charity events with his dad Archie and brother Eli.
So it's a bittersweet farewell to our knight on a stallion. Unless his new team (which I predict to be Washington) plays the Colts, I'll be cheering like crazy for Peyton to set every record in the book. Releasing him truly is the right decision from a financial and "down-the-road" perspective, but it hurts nonetheless.
Andrew Luck appears to be the real deal, much as Peyton was 15 years ago. If he stays healthy and out of trouble, his career might even approach Peyton's success one day. But for now, I'm in favor of lowering Lucas Oil's flags to half staff, observing a moment of silence, and just smiling while we remember the brilliant gift that this man was to our city.
Thanks, Peyton,.....and keep throwing darts for years to come.
Sunday, February 5, 2012
Proud Of My City
Giants 21, Patriots 17. That, in itself is a great thing. A Manning won and a Brady lost, so Jupiter is still dutifully aligned with Mars. Wish it would've been Peyton and not Eli, but whatcha gonna do?
Indianapolis just hosted one of the best Super Bowl weeks ever held, with wonderful events, gorgeous pageantry, splendid organization, and shockingly great weather. It was a wonderful way to highlight my home of the past 25 years, and made me proud to be a Hoosier (where, as Steve Poe says, the state bird is, "Larry").
Tina and I traveled downtown on Saturday to see the Super Bowl Village and do the NFL Experience. We parked about a mile away and paid $20, but it was at a church, so I guess God will be pleased. High aspirations for star spotting were on our minds, as I fully intended to do a personal interview of Johnny Depp while posing for photos with Joe Montana, LMFAO, Deion Sanders and Cher (though she wasn't even in town!)
The town was totally abuzz with music, lights and decorations that screamed "SUPER BOWL COMMERCIAL" from the highest rooftops. We walked through tens of thousands of folks to pose in front of the Monument Circle giant Roman numerals, then did the sardine squish through a myriad of folks to get to Miyagi's, for sushi and warm sake'. (Did I mention we passed an awesome rock band dressed as MUMMIES along the way?)
After dinner, it was off to the NFL EXPERIENCE, which welcomed us with a 10-story tall zipline over the throng of humanity. The exhibition was an absolute ZOO!! Excited kids, along with their testosterone-overdosed fathers ran hither and tither, bulldozing their way from 40-yard dash to sled-blocking course to the final point kick. Tina and I signed the waivers and decided we would do one challenge, mainly because each and every line was one hour long. The time had come for this man to kick his first 30-yard field goal!!
Armed with the determination and tenacity of,......well,.....ummm,........a 46-year old choreographer with a slight groin pull to begin with, we set our countenance on crushing the field goal. Who knows, there could've been scouts in the area. Scouts with clout, scouts with a keen eye for weathered talent, scouts with big contracts in their back pocket waiting for me to sign.
The time came after 70 minutes. I lined in up with the laser-precision of Morten Anderson, approached with the steely grit of Adam Vinateri, and swung my leg through the ball with the high-kicking prowess of a Radio City Rockette!! The ball took off and sailed a good,.....fifteen or sixteen,......maybe thirteen,........OK, twelve yards,.....before dribbling toward the goal post and coming to rest in front of a volunteer who looked at it and sent in flying back for the next wannabe to fail.
I have to say though, that all in all, it was a great weekend!! Madonna performed better than I've seen her in quite some time. Tasteful, adroit, calculated and technically flawless. Her show with LMFAO, CeeLo Green, Nikki Minaj and something called MIA (obviously stands for flick middle finger at audience in feeble attempt to resurrect dying rap career) was theatrical, beautifully choreographed, brilliantly lighted and had some of the best choreography and dancers I've ever seen in one of these shows!! Kelly Clarkson and the Indianapolis Children's Choir (directed by Henry Leck, whose daughter Gretchen is a former student!!) performed the national anthem with solemnity and honor that befitted our country's proudest song.
And it was simply a pleasure to watch the Patriots fail again, on our home turf!! The party we went to at the McKay's was a great setting to see it all unfold. The naked M&M commercial, the chili cook-off between Doug Johnson and myself, the making of new friends, and 7 guys all analyzing and breaking down plays as if we were suddenly experts on a game that none of us ever played worth a darn. THIS is what Super Bowl weekend is about!!
Great job Indy! Proud of the way you held the event and made the city shine,......but I'm still moving to Colorado in a year.
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