Do Re Mi

The Sound of Music in Antwerp Train Station

I always loved this song!

Just Call Me Little Bo Peep

Sheep are probably more common in Australia than kangaroos, but on a recent visit there I never got close enough to hear so much as a bleat.   I wanted to see a sheep shearing (as seen on “The Thorn Birds”).  I  wanted a picturesque mob of sheep to flood out onto the quaint road, you know, the usual [...]

The Birds

IMAGINE THIS SCENE:  A man and a woman are watching ”Country Calendar” on the television in their house on a lonely sheep station near Lake Wakatipu in New Zealand.  The woman gets up from the couch to get some tea.  She hears a fainting tapping on the front door.
“John,”  she calls out, a little alarmed.  “There’s someone here.” 
She peers through the door’s [...]

I’m Not Ready For My Close-up

It’s a good thing I didn’t blink, or I would have missed my four-second big screen debut in the independent film, “fling*,” which is making the rounds of film festivals around the country.  This past weekend it was introduced to Kansas City, where it was filmed.
We invited some friends to see it with us at the Screenland Theater.  [...]

Zombies or Ghouls?

All Hallow’s Eve.  Lost, we creep along a dark road toward a lighted porch. A chilly wind rushes past, dry leaves dancing in its wake.  We shiver.  Is it the cold?  Or is it fear?  A dog howls. We hear rustling in the brush. 
“Hurry!”  We almost reach the porch.  My foot is on the step.  The porch light begins to flicker.  Behind us, the rustling [...]

Avast, Me Hearty! It’s Talk Like a Pirate Day!

Arrgh!  Get ready to walk the plank if you don’t talk like a pirate on September 19 – the  annual International Talk Like a Pirate Day.
No one talked more like a pirate than Robert Newton in his role as Long John Silver in the Walt Disney production of “Treasure Island” (1950).  The scene in the video above [...]

George Orwell Revisited

                                                                                                                                                                              Last week, I wrote about George Orwell’s new blog. Now he’s back in the news as a subject in a book he shares with Evelyn Waugh.  At first glance, Orwell and Waugh couldn’t be more different in style, interests and beliefs, but writer David Lebedoff has tied together these two fascinating British authors.  You can click on a link [...]

More Mamma Mia!

Robert Butler, The Kansas City Star’s movie critic, was a little dubious of the idea of a sing along version of “Mamma Mia!” when he showed up for the preview.  He’d already seen the “regular” version.  He’s warmed a lot of theater seats in his many years as a movie critic, so he has a [...]

Mamma Mia!

My daughter “Lulu”and I were probably the only ones in the theater tonight who’d never seen any version of “Mamma Mia!” She’d gotten free tickets to a preview of the new sing-along version.  “Wanna go?” she asked casually. Lulu was ready to pass the tickets along to a friend who’s “Mamma Mia!” crazy, if I said no. 
I said, [...]

Tribute to Isaac Hayes

Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain plays “Shaft”

My blogging friend Sincerae wrote a great tribute to Isaac Hayes and found this different — and amusing — musical take on Isaac Hayes’ “Shaft” by The Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain.  It made me smile while also honoring a very creative man.  Thanks, Sincerae!  Read [...]